Postman hoards 20,000 letters in Germany

An employee of German postal service Deutsche Post AG is pictured on a street in Berlin January 16, 2008.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A Scottish postman working in Germany hoarded at least 20,000 letters at home because he felt his work was too taxing, police said on Tuesday.

The postman in Frankfurt was caught when a neighbor saw him tipping a mail delivery into a rubbish bin and alerted police.

"It's worth mentioning the 23-year-old didn't deliver mail addressed to himself either," local police said in a statement.

Investigating officers found rubbish bags and boxes full of letters and other post stashed around the man's flat and cellar. He told police he had got behind with deliveries because of his night school studies and felt too "overtaxed" to catch up.

Police said at a conservative estimate, the hoard, which the man had built up since August 2007, comprised at least 20,000 letters. Two vans were needed to remove it.

(Writing by Dave Graham; editing by Elizabeth Piper)