Police complete country road dumped letters inquiry

Police have completed their inquiry into how hundreds of unopened letters came to be dumped on a country road near Londonderry.

An estimated 600 unopened letters were handed into Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) MLA Mark H Durkan's constituency office last week.

The majority – around 400 letters - were found by a member of the public at Mobouy Road on the outskirts of the city, with more discovered later in the Victoria Road area of the city.

"The matter has now been fully handed over to Royal Mail," a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) spokeswoman said.

Royal Mail told BBC News NI its investigation "remains ongoing."

Many of the letters discovered at Mobouy Road on 4 November were bundled together with elastic bands and included correspondence from health trusts and banks to addresses in the Derry area.

A further bundle of mail – containing around 200 letters - was found by a woman who had stopped at Victoria Road to take a photograph of the sunset over the River Foyle on 5 November

Speaking last week Durkan described the discovery of the letters as "absolutely shocking".

The Foyle MLA has called for a "full investigation into this appalling situation".