A WORKER picking up litter found nearly £4,000 in used notes – and has been praised by police for handing it in.

Philip Stobbart, 64, found a carrier bag full of cash, along with two passports and a letter, while doing his rounds as a site cleaner on a retail park in Consett, County Durham.

But rather than pocketing the money and keeping quiet, the honest grandfather handed the £3,920 into police.

Officers traced the money back to a 70-year-old woman from Bedlington, in Northumberland.

Inspector Dave Turner, from Consett police, gave Mr Stobbart a bottle of whiskey, donated by Consett YMCA, in recognition of his honesty.

Insp Turner said: “The owner was very relieved because it was a substantial amount. To lose that amount of money in used notes would make most people think they would never see it again.

“He could have quite easily said nothing and kept the money, but he hasn’t. He has done the right thing and it restores you faith in human decency. It is wonderful and we wanted to honour that.”

Mr Stobbart, from Iveston Road, Delves Lane, Consett, found the bag near the Matalan store.

He said: “When I picked it up I thought it felt heavy and I checked inside. I thought it must have had a purse in and found all that money, so I took it straight up to the police.”

It is not the first time that Mr Stobbart’s honesty has been put to the test. At the age of ten, he found a satchel belonging to a local bank abandoned on wasteground near the pit in Delves Lane. The bag was stuffed with cash – and again