Royal Mail investigators received a tip-off in May this year and raided Alec Clark's former home address in Peterborough to find 10 packets containing sex toys and 60 pieces of lingerie, along with receipts from adult companies, hidden in the attic.

The haul, which he had accumulated over 10 years, also included a pile of 24 explicit DVDs.

Clark would open "multiple order" boxes containing up to 20 DVDs, steal one from each, repackage the remaining items and deliver them, Peterborough Magistrates' Court was told yesterday.

When he was confronted with the items, Alec Clark (35), who now lives at Chaucer Road, New England, admitted he had taken them, saying: "It seems I'm really into something that's overtaken my mind. I had no intention of doing anything with it."

He had been employed as a delivery driver and collections manager by Parcelforce for 11 years, first in Peterborough and then in Cambridge, before he was suspended in May.

Prosecuting for Royal Mail – which owns Parcelforce – Richard Brown said: "An investigation uncovered 10 postal packets and receipts from a variety of different companies, including Pabo, who sell sex toys and Figleaves, a women's lingerie firm.

"They found sex toys, underwear, lingerie and books that had been sent through the post.

"When he was shown the items, he admitted they had come from the post."

He admitted that he started stealing five months after the start of his career.

Clark pleaded guilty to two charges of theft, stretching from between January 2001 and April this year.

Defending, Sara Young said: "This is a very serious matter. There was a large breach of trust involved. It does cross the custody threshold."

The case was adjourned for reports and magistrates told Clark that all options, including custody, would be kept open.

Speaking after the case, a spokesman for Royal Mail said: "The overwhelming majority of our people are honest and we have a zero tolerance policy to any dishonesty."