Thetford couple's joy at return of £300 posted by mistake

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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A couple who accidentally posted £300 cash in a blank envelope say their faith in humanity was restored after every penny was returned to them almost two months later.

Barry Trainor, 66, withdrew the money last December 19, intending to spend it on Christmas presents for the family.

When he arrived at work, however, his heart sank as he realised he had dropped the cash, which was in a plain white envelope, into a post box at midday on Bury Road with a pile of Christmas cards he was carrying.

His wife Marion, 63, stepped in and began a round of phone calls in a bid to trace the money before it was collected from the post box.

She began at her local post office on Thetford Market Place, who told her the mail had been picked up at 12.10pm and was on its way to Norwich, Ipswich or Cambridge.

After calling a variety of numbers, Mrs Trainor was directed to a sorting office in Belfast where she was told all unaddressed and unclaimed post was directed.

She was told, however, that all unclaimed money normally went to charity, but they would do their best to locate it and send a cheque to the couple.

Mrs Trainor, who is retired and lives with her husband in Nunnery Place, Thetford, said the money arrived at the couple's home on February 11 and added: “It's a lot of money and you think 'oh well', but everybody's short of cash at the moment and we were running around getting in a state.

“I couldn't believe it when I got a special delivery notice through the door and found it was the money.

“They'd sent back the cash. It was from Belfast but had no letter with it. If I hadn't rung, I think it would have gone to charity. I told them I already give quite a lot of money to charity and said I would be grateful if we could have it back.

“We were shocked that somebody had not put it in their pocket. If you're hard up and see that sort of thing, sometimes it's a bit tempting, so it put our faith in humanity up a peg or two.”

Mr Trainor, who owns his own blasting company in Barnham, added: “I was a bit gutted because business is always tight and it was money I'd saved up for Christmas presents.

“The Post Office were very helpful when we went to them but I'd rather have given it to someone who needed it.

“I was very grateful and so surprised to get it back. It was just nice to see honesty like that is still around.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We have well-established processes for dealing with items found loose in the post or in unaddressed envelopes and these enabled us to return the £300 to our customer.

“It is important to always use our special delivery service when posting cash into our system.”

[POSTMAN]

Nice to see a good story now and again,shame they are in short supply though.