The synchronous or metachronous occurrence of two tumours of the salivary glands in one patient is rare. These are mainly benign and of the same histological type. Here we report a 56-year-old man who developed a mucoepidermoid tumour of the left parotid gland four years after diagnosis of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the right submandibular gland. This combination of neoplasms has not to our knowledge been reported before.