Prague- Czech police Friday charged a 43-year-old former postal worker who allegedly stole some 39,000 letters at a postal hub in south-eastern Czech Republic, police said.

The man faces two years in prison for the theft of international mail at a post office in the south-eastern town of Breclav between 2001 and 2006.

He first stole mail out of interest in foreign stamps and later began opening letters and pilfering the cash inside, said police investigator Josef Brabec.

The suspect confessed when confronted with evidence, including an album with stolen stamps, Brabec said.

The man had stashed away the undelivered mail in 71 bags in an abandoned tunnel connecting the post office to a nearby railway station. Workers tasked with demolishing the underpass discovered them in March.

Czech Post has since delivered around 25,000 of the stolen letters to surprised recipients. The rest were too damaged or are part of the police investigation.

Breclav resident Vlastimil Fabikovic received a Christmas card sent by a German family friend to his grandmother in 2003.

"It is sad that it did not arrive back then, considering that my grandmother has passed away," he said bitterly.

The case was not a unique incident. The postal service also said Friday its detectives caught two more workers in Breclav who have at least since April pilfered cash from certified mail bound for Slovakia.

The men who worked separately confessed to stealing around 160,000 and 85,000 koruny (9,600 and 5,100 dollars), said Czech Post spokesman Ivo Mravinac. (dpa)