A postwoman who hoarded more than 5,000 items of mail in her Wolverhampton home has been spared a jail term.

Hannah Moore-Kelly failed to deliver items on a daily basis shortly after starting her job with Royal Mail in December.

Investigators found the undelivered mail in outside bins at the 21-year-old’s home in Carlyle Road, The Scotlands.

Moore-Kelly, who now lives with her mother in Wells Road, Penn, has since been sacked.

She was warned she was facing jail when she appeared at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court last week after pleading guilty to delaying the delivery of 5,581 postal packets.

But District Judge Graham Wilkinson yesterday ordered her to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work. She will also be subject to 12 months of supervision and a 12-month community order.

Mr John Dove, prosecuting, said Royal Mail had spent £430 delivering the recovered mail to its intended addresses.

The judge ordered her to pay the whole cost of redelivering the mail as well as £120 costs.