A man in Bristol was shocked to discover a package he expected to contain the Kindle e-reading device he had ordered in fact contained a tumour specimen. James Potten, 37, of Cotham, Bristol, opened the FedEx parcel to find the specimen that should have been destined for the Royal Free Hospital in London.

"When I opened it I had quite a shock," he told the BBC. The parcel had come from California and Potten said the tracking code had the same six initial numbers and three concluding numbers as his kindle package.

The Royal Free Hospital said it knew that a package it was supposed to receive had been delivered to an address in Bristol confirming, "we will await answers from the delivery company as to how this mistake was made".

FedEx said they "will consider future changes to our processes" after the mix-up. The company has picked up the errant package and are now delivering it to the correct address.

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