A former Italian postman is facing charges after police found 400kg of undelivered mail stashed in his home in the northern city of Turin.

Police said the 33-year-old, who has not been named, told officers he did not deliver any mail for three years because his salary was too low. He quit the job in 2017.

The stash was discovered after the man was stopped during a routine road check, Turin police said in a statement. He was found in possession of a 20cm long folding knife, and 70 letters were found on the back seat of his car.

Sensing something was amiss, police then went to his home, where they found a further 40 boxes of undelivered mail that included bank statements, bills and other private correspondence.

“I wasn’t paid enough and so I quit,” the man reportedly said. He now faces charges of theft, misappropriation of correspondence and for carrying a weapon.

Italy’s postal service is fairly unreliable, and the case is not the first of its kind.

In January, a 56-year-old was arrested after police found 500kg of undelivered mail dating back to 2010 hidden in his garage in the northern city of Vicenza. The pile included telephone directories, bills and campaign leaflets for regional elections, in what police said was the largest haul of undelivered mail ever found.

The postal service in the city pledged to deliver the mail, even though the correspondence was up to six years late.

In 2013 a postman in Sardinia failed to delivered 400kg of mail during a four-year period. Such an offence in Italy carries a prison sentence of up to one year.