SNAIL MAIL FROM THE BBC

[Valentine Mark Herman]

"A postbox has been closed because snails have been crawling inside and munching the mail.

The red box in Adderstone, a remote area of North Northumberland, has been out of use since July this year.

Royal Mail said a postbox may be temporarily closed due to wildlife infestation, and advised customers to use the nearest convenient one.

But Northumberland County councillor Guy Renner-Thompson said: "It serves quite a few houses and farms and we'd like to get it back open as soon as possible.

Duncan Hutt from Northumberland Wildlife Trust said many people did not realise slugs and snails had a very varied diet.

"Snails eat paper because most contains cellulose from the wood pulp which they can digest and use for energy, and they also get calcium from paper and that's what they need to build their shells," he said.

"There's also an awful lot of snails and slugs around this year following a mild winter and wet spring.

"That's good for species like hedgehogs, frogs and song thrushes which eat them, but not such good news for gardeners or people in Adderstone who want to post a letter."