A former postman has been jailed for six months after pleading guilty to hoarding almost 3,000 items of post in a shed, his bedroom and his car.

Joseph Bell, 24, of Stanmore, north London, pleaded guilty at Harrow Crown Court last Thursday to two counts of postal theft and one of illegally opening packages.

The court heard that Bell failed to deliver sacks of letters and parcels between November, 2005, and November, 2006.

Ten bags of undelivered mail, containing letters, parcels and packages, were discovered in his bedroom last November 23.

Police and Royal Mail investigators had already found more than 400 items of post in a lock-up garage rented by Bell in Stanmore, and a further 17 items of mail in his car. The postman was arrested at the Royal Mail's sorting depot in Edgware.

He told police he had taken the post home with the intention of delivering it at a later date, and he had not told his bosses for fear of losing his job.

Anthony Lenaghan, prosecuting for Royal Mail, said: "This is someone who was overwhelmed by it all, kept the post with the intention of delivering it, but ultimately mismanaged his time."

He conceded that Bell, who has a young son and no previous convictions had not intended to steal.

Nicholas Dunham, defending, said Bell had regularly taken post home when his then partner, the boy's mother, telephoned him to ask him to return, because she could not cope with the child on her own.

Mr Dunham said: "He came home, often at the expense of finishing his round. It became more difficult to deliver these letters and finish his round the following day. It happened again and again and Mr Bell ended up with a large amount of mail at home."

Mr Dunham said Bell had made "no personal gain whatsoever" from keeping the mail. Bell was forced to resign from his job with Royal Mail.

Sentencing, Recorder Nigel Lambert QC, said to Bell: "This is a sad case. If you had gone to someone at the start and said you could not cope, this would not have turned into a vicious circle.

"There was no personal gain and you did not target credit cards or cash. But the message must go out that this is not the way a postal worker can carry out his duties."