Parcel for soldier hero is sent back because it is two poppies too heavy

He sent off a package containing books, toothpaste, biscuits and sweets, along with two Remembrance Day poppies to remind Danny how much his family cared.

A week later, however, he received a letter saying it could not be dispatched because it was 0.192 of a gram over the 2kg limit - the equivalent of a feather and less than the weight of the two 1gram poppies.

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'I think it's disgusting that some jobsworth has decided not to send this out to Afghanistan,' said Mr Smith, 41, from Swinefleet, near Goole, East Yorkshire.

'When I went to post it, it was weighed and accepted - but I don't think it has ever left Goole. I know for a fact that the BFPO (British Forces Post Office) in London would have sent it if it had got there.

'It probably cost them more to write to me than to send it there.'

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He added: 'Whilst our postal workers strike for the right to go home early and still get paid, our troops are expected to work 24 hours a day until the job is done; a firefight does not stop because it's clocking-off time.'

After collecting the parcel he re-sent it yesterday, minus the poppies, to his son in the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, attached to 40 Commando Royal Marines in Helmand Province.

A former sergeant in the Coldstream Guards himself, Mr Smith said the package would make a big difference to his son. 'I know what it is like; you can't just go down to the shops for life's little luxuries. Toothpaste and sweets are the sort of things you miss and that's what made me so angry.

'My son is on a mortar line and he sleeps next to his barrel - he hasn't got any down-time.'

A Royal Mail spokesman said: 'All parcels being sent to troops under the free postal service must meet strict weight guidelines which are laid down by BFPO. Parcels must weigh no more than 2kg.

'Unfortunately, due to human error, this parcel was accepted when it was over the allowed weight. As soon as the subpostmasterrealised the mistake-they apologised to the customer for any inconvenience caused.'

More than 6,000 UK forces personnel are serving in Afghanistan. Helmand, in the south, is a Taliban stronghold and is one of the world's most dangerous regions.

The Royal Mail announced on Monday that it was extending its free postal service to Iraq and Afghanistan, which had been due to run out on December 7.

Following a new deal with the Ministry of Defence it is now expected to last as long as British troops are serving there.