A POSTMAN who stole credit cards from bags of mail that he then failed to deliver has been jailed for three months.

Steven Robinson, of De Lacy Street, Clitheroe, rifled through envelopes to remove credit cards that had been sent out by banks to residents across Accrington.

Robinson, 23, began working as an agency-hired postman for Royal Mail in December 2004.

The company had been experiencing a large number of thefts, mainly of credit cards, in the run-up to Christmas and had started an investigation before Robinson joined them.

A bundle of dumped mail was discovered in January and traced back to Robinson. The following month a warrant was obtained to search Robinson's former address in Accrington, where a postbag full of undelivered mail was found.

An envelope containing eight unsigned credit cards, which had been sent out to residents between December 7 and January 12, was also uncovered.

At Preston Crown Court, Robinson, who also used to work as a school caretaker, admitted nine counts of theft.

Douglas Mark Stuart, defending, said that although Robinson had taken the cards, he had not used them to buy anything or to remove money from accounts.

Judge Norman Wright said Robinson had "abused the trust" of his employees and the residents to whom he delivered post.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "We have a zero tolerance approach to any dishonesty and Royal Mail's stance is shared by the overwhelming majority of postmen and women, who are honest and hardworking and do all they can to protect the mail and deliver it safely."

The punishment will be served concurrently with a 52-month sentence given to Robinson following his involvement in a cocaine and heroin drugs ring that spanned East Lancashire and reached into Cumbria.

He had become involved with selling the class A drugs several months after being sacked from his job as a postman and splitting up with his girlfriend.