ROYAL Mail bosses had faces as a red as one of their own pillar boxes when a wall mounted post box at Pewsey went missing, presumed stolen, last week.

People living in Marlborough Road in Pewsey could not understand why the well used post box mounted at Pewsey Wharf disappeared last Tuesday.

They contacted Royal Mail officials who said they had no knowledge of the box being removed so it was reported to the police as having been stolen.

PC Stuart Bishop from Pewsey had begun an investigation into the matter when Royal Mail bosses admitted it had been chiselled out of the wall by one of their own engineers.

The engineer, who is a complete stranger to Wiltshire, was asked to take away a redundant wall-mounted post box in Pewsey Road, Marlborough.

But, he went to Marlborough Road in Pewsey seven miles away and removed the only post box he could find.

Graham Lee, who runs The Waterfront cafe and restaurant at Pewsey Wharf, checked with the local sorting office after the box went missing.

He was told it had been emptied on Tuesday morning but they had no idea why it had been removed.

Mr Lee said: "I guessed that somebody must have stolen it although I could not think why, unless it was a collector's piece. Other people thought the same and it was reported to the police."

Mr Lee said people in the Marlborough Road area were concerned at the loss of the post box because they otherwise faced a trip into Pewsey to post their letters.

He said: "We have all those boats pulling up at the wharf during the season and they all want to put their post cards in the box to tell relatives where they are."

A spokesman for the Royal Mail said: "There were some red faces when we finally managed to work out what had happened.

"Because people thought it might have been stolen it did set some hares running.

"It turned out to be a genuine mistake with the engineer, who did not know the area, confusing Pewsey Road in Marlborough with Marlborough Road in Pewsey."

The spokesman revealed that the box removed from Pewsey was a collectable George V model.

But, he said, the same post box was put back at the wharf on Friday.