WHILE legal proceedings can sometimes drag on for years, one North-East law firm has proved positively speedy when compared to the Royal Mail.

Staff at Gordon Brown Associates, in Sunderland, were shocked this week when they were returned an undelivered letter the company had posted eight years ago. And to add insult to delayed injury the firm, which has undergone a full-scale company merger, was charged £1 for its wait.

It was in 1997 that the then firm of Mason Brown Associates dispatched a recorded delivery letter to a close friend and business partner of a deceased client.

The letter had included information about an issue relating to a client's estate.

During the intervening years, the company merged and became part of Gordon Brown Associates and the estate mentioned in the letter had long been settled and archived.

So it was with some amazement that staff received the letter back marked "not collected'' eight years after it had been posted. It was with even more shock that it learned that it had to pay a surcharge

Moya Mason, a resident partner at the company, said: "It isn't unusual to receive a returned letter from the Royal Mail. These things happen, but when we noticed the date it had originally been posted we couldn't believe our eyes.''

She added: "I have no idea where it has been lying since 1997, but it seems unbelievable that it could just re-appear after all this time. It just proves the old adage that everything comes to he who waits.''

And if Ms Mason had no idea of what had caused the 96-month delay, nor did the Royal Mail a spokesman, who said yesterday: "We deliver some 83 million items a day in the UK and clearly cannot speculate as to what has happened in this exceptional instance."

Promising an inquiry into the postponed post, he said: "We would urge the customer to contact our customer services department as we would welcome the opportunity to investigate further.''

And in case Gordon Brown Associates are slightly reluctant to contact them by post the number is 0845 740740.