A WOMAN who returned more than £500 found in a wallet bought at a charity shop said she would expect anyone else to do the same.

Becci Redmond bought the wallet for her son from the Selby Hands Of Hope shop on one of her first walks out since undergoing back surgery, and said she was amazed by what she found.

She said: “I was just looking through it to check it wasn’t torn inside, and I couldn’t believe it. It was quite flat, it didn’t look like there was anything in it. My first thought was to phone my dad and ask him to take me back to the shop”.

Ann Rhodes, who runs the Gowthorpe shop, said the wallet was given to the charity with items from the house clearance of a woman in her eighties who had died. She said the woman’s brother, also in his eighties, had “pretty much thrown things in bags so everything was jumbled together”, but had signed up to GiftAid, which is how she was later able to track him down.

Ann said the wallet had been checked before being put on display, but the money - totalling £540 - was so tightly folded in a small compartment, it had not been noticed.

She said: “Within an hour of getting home Becci brought it back and I phoned him.

“He was absolutely amazed and because it touched him he phoned her and thanked her and she said if we hadn’t been able to find who donated it she was going to give the money to charity so this gentleman called me and asked if I would ensure £250 goes to Becci, and gave the remainder to the charity.”

Becci asked for her money to also go to the SHOH, which helps local charities, as she recently read about Sophie Booth, whose family are raising £20,000 to treat her Optic Nerve Hypoplasia - an eye condition which means she has fewer optic nerve fibres than most and has left her blind.

Three years ago, her family and friends raised £40,000 to take her to Thailand for pioneering stem cell treatment, and she can now see some bright lights, but they hope with further treatment her eyesight could improve even more.

Ann said: “It’s restored my faith in human nature. It’s a lovely thing to do and shows you there are a lot of honest people.”

To donate to Sophie’s fund, go to justgiving.com/crowdfunding/stacey-doherty-1