A nine-year-old schoolboy in the UK has a made a new friend in WA after his message in a bottle washed up on a Perth beach.

Cade Scott from Sunderland, north-east England, placed a Doctor Who postcard into an old wine bottle and let it loose in the North Sea in August 2011.

Cade Scott set his message in a bottle off the north east coast of England in August 2011. Credit:Sunderland Echo

After travelling 15,000 kilometres in 16 months it was discovered by Matthew Elam from Mosman Park as he celebrated Christmas at the beach.

Matthew, 25, sent the Doctor Who postcard back to Cade with a WA postcard, writing: "Thanks for your postcard. I found it whilst celebrating Christmas on the beach here in Perth, Western Australia, Happy New Year."