A postman stashed more than 9,000 letters and parcels at his home – because he said he was too stressed to deliver them.

Christopher Moran picked up sacks of mail from his bosses before hiding them in his house, his car and even his girlfriend's car.

The 22-year-old was caught out after a flood of furious complaints about packages going undelivered over a two-month period.

Royal Mail launched an investigation and discovered the bags at his home.

Melanie Winstanley, defending, told Manchester Magistrates that Moran was having difficulty keeping up with deliveries after postal strikes had increased his workload.

He also claimed moving into a new home with his partner – whose child has Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder – had been 'stressful', and his work had suffered as a result.

"He simply buried his head in the sand," said Miss Winstanley. "He is deeply embarrassed and ashamed of what he has done."

Moran, of Mersey Street, Leigh, had been a postman for three years. He was given a 12-month community order after pleading guilty to failing to deliver the mail.

Magistrates told him he had breached the public's trust and damaged the reputation of the postal service.

David Farrell, chair of the bench, said: "This was a breach of trust.

"You had been a postman long enough to know the public put a lot of trust in the Royal Mail and a lot of people respect it.

"Offences such as these damage the reputation of everyone involved in postal services."

Moran, who has no previous convictions or cautions, lost his job and is now unemployed. He was ordered to pay £1,100 in compensation and costs.

All the post was recovered and eventually redelivered.

A Royal Mail spokesman said the organisation had a 'zero-tolerance approach to any dishonesty'.

"That stance is shared by the overwhelming majority of postmen and women who are honest and hardworking and who do all the can to protect the mail and deliver it safely," he said. "We will always seek to prosecute the tiny minority of people who abuse their position of trust."