A LOOE woman whose wallet containing £150 was returned safely before she even realised it was missing was delighted to be able to thank her good Samaritan personally.

Christina Miller unwittingly dropped her wallet in the road near to Looe Primary School after she had just withdrawn cash to pay some bills.

But thanks to Barbara Hills-Butter, who handed the wallet in at the school, and the swift actions of staff in locating Christina's number on the internet, the money and cards were quickly back in the hands of their owner.

'I really did not realise my wallet was missing till I got a call from the little school in Hay Lane, Barbican, telling me a lady called Barbara had handed in my wallet,' Christina said.

'I was so relieved to see all my money still there, with both my credit cards and all the other bits and pieces still intact.

'Barbara's actions are a wonderful example of values which a lot of people think are truly forgotten, but not so, as was proved by this splendidly honest gesture,' she added. 'The school also deserves praise.'

Barbara, who runs the Hannafore Beach Kiosk, said she had dropped the wallet into the school without a second thought.

'Here at the kiosk we get a lot of things handed in from the beach – mobile phones, wallets and so on,' she said.

'I think people generally are honest – I'm not the only one!'