THE family of a soldier serving in Afghanistan have reacted with joy to news that he has finally received the food parcels they sent him - just a week after the Guardian highlighted their plight.

Relatives of 20-year-old Byron Fry, of the Shelley Estate in Ongar, sent 12 packages stuffed with snacks and supplies to him over the course of nearly two months, but not a single one arrived.

But just over a week after we covered their story, Byron, who is serving in the Coldstream Guards First Battalion regiment, phoned home to his family that “most” of the parcels and letters had now been delivered.

His sister Cheryl Fry, 27, said: “We're all so pleased.

“I was worried he might think we'd forgotten all about him, so it's so good that now he knows how much we've been thinking of him.

“It does seem weird that he hadn't received them for weeks and then suddenly after the story was in the Guardian they all arrived at once.”

And in a further boost, his relatives have also been contacted by a soldier who is due to ship out to Afghanistan next month who wants to personally deliver the family's Christmas package to Byron.

Miss Fry added: “It's a really nice offer. We just want him to have a good Christmas. It would mean so much to us if he was able to get his presents in time.”

The developments come just days after the Government launched a nationwide appeal asking the public not to send parcels to troops this Christmas because it was delaying post from soldiers' families.

Captain Charlie Malcolm, Officer Commanding the Operation Herrick Postal and Courier Squadron, based at Camp Bastion, said: “For personnel deployed overseas, personal mail from loved ones is very important.

"But the system can be completely overwhelmed by the public's generous donations, which results in mail from family and friends being delayed.

"The main cause of this is the huge and unmanageable number of welfare parcels, sent by well-meaning members of the public, to recipients not personally known to the sender.”