A bag of mail from Canada and the West Indies has arrived on the Island eight months late following an amazing postal mix-up.

The Post Office also recieved letters in the same bag that should have gone to Surinam, the French West Indies, Guadeloupe and Grenada.

The bag of jumbled mail somehow ended up in Trinidad, but was posted to the Island from John F Kennedy Airport in New York on Tuesday.

Postmaster General Cleveland Crichlow said yesterday: "It's a real mess. I assume they've just thought mail for the islands and its just like someone said just dump the bag. It got to JFK then was dumped to Bermuda.'' Much of the mail is in a poor condition and in some cases irretrievable.

Mr. Crichlow is now trying to deliver the 30 letters to addresses in Bermuda -- including one for Senate President Alf Oughton sent from Canada -- before posting back the 20 other pieces to various Caribbean countries.

He said the Post Office apologises for the delay and condition of the mail, but it had no responsibility for the letters going astray.

Mr. Crichlow said Canadian mail for Bermuda comes on Air Canada flights. Air Canada also has a connection for Trinidad, so the mail may have been put on the wrong plane.

In Trinidad, the missplaced mail seems to have been mixed up with letters to and from that Caribbean country.

Mr. Crichlow added: "The postal document we normally get with all mail is filthy and half destroyed, but it says `Miss-sent to Trinidad'. How the Canadian mail got sent to Trinidad, I haven't got a clue.'' The Island has suffered repeated delays in receiving United States mail through JFK, but Mr. Crichlow said there had been no recent problems.