Sorry you were out - your parcel is on the roof

The baffled customer was told his parcel was at 'a safe location' Credit: Ajmal Aziz / Twitter

It's normally only Father Christmas who delivers parcels via rooftop.

But the delivery service Yodel has been forced to apologise after an "over-enthusiastic" worker dropped off a package by throwing it onto a customer's roof.

The worker thought he had spotted a great way to deliver the parcel after he spotted a window open a crack in the house in Dartford, Kent.

But his basketball skills obviously left something to be desired as he overshot and left the package sitting on top of the house.

The baffled customer arrived home to find a 'sorry we missed you note' saying his delivery had been 'left in a safe place' while a barely literate note added: "Sorry, top off your roof."

Their friend Ajmal Aziz contacted Yodel on Twitter with images of the faux pas, adding: "Surprised your delivery driver decided to throw the package on the roof? Any reason why?"

Yodel apologised profusely for the "very embarrassing" incident, saying that it had spoken to all drivers as a result.

The delivery driver also returned in his own time with a ladder to retrieve the parcel and finally pass it safely into the recipient's hands.