A Western Australian police officer has has gone from detective to delivery man, after tracking down the six-year-old recipient of a Christmas gift lost in transit.

Senior Constable Jeremy Dickenson said he was inspired to deliver the wrapped present to its intended recipient after it was handed in to Reobourne Police Station on Tuesday.

"A nice gentlemen handed in a present which he found on the highway," Snr Const. Dickenson told ABC News .

"It was all wrapped up and had a first name on it and then it just had 'from uncle', so we didn't have a great deal to go on."

Snr Const. Dickenson nevertheless recognised the name as that of a boy given a police road safety award earlier this year.

After digging through a series of archive records, he was able to track down the boy’s address.

To avoid having the present lost a second time, the officer decided to deliver it by hand – a gesture that left the six-year-old recipient “all grins”.

"He was just absolutely rapt," Snr Const. Dickenson said.

"I think (the six-year-old) knew, his uncle must have said something to him, he knew he had a present missing.

"So as soon as we turned up with his big present he was all grins, he was just very happy.”

Snr Const. Dickenson has thanked the man who handed in the missing gift in the first place for making the return possible.