Binmen wade through rubbish to find £450 birthday money thrown away by mistake
Rubbish collectors came back to the street to rapturous applause after going the 'extra mile'.
Kind-hearted bin men rescued hundreds of pounds of birthday money with a ‘needle in a haystack’ operation.
Refuse collectors went ‘that extra mile’ and ‘unbelievably’ located the £450 in piles of rubbish for Keiahna Jackson, before being applauded as they returned it to her the same day.
The teenager had been celebrating her 18th birthday at home in Yarm, North Yorkshire, on Tuesday – when the bins are collected in the area. She had been given the cash by friends and family to help pay for a holiday after the coronavirus lockdown is lifted.
But the whole household flew into panic mode upon realising the envelope containing all the money had been chucked out with the wrapping and collected by Stockton Council’ s refuse crew.
Keiahna’s Mum Leanne Best called the council for help after an unsuccessful attempt to stop the bin crew before they left.
She explained: ‘I asked if there was anything they could do and [the council worker] said she would try but couldn’t promise anything.
‘At that point, we just thought we had lost it and I poured myself a big stiff drink and sat outside, saying to myself, “it’s just money.”
‘But in the current climate I was really mindful that money is tight for people.’
She continued: ‘I was thinking: “how do I tell all those people that sent her gifts in the post?”’
But after hearing about the issue, the rubbish collectors began searching through the tip for a yellow bag containing the envelope.
Remarkably, it was eventually located and Keiahna’s birthday money was all found still intact.
That same evening, the crew even drove back to her home to drop off the cash at her door – to rapturous applause from people on the street.
Leanne said she could not express the gratitude they felt.
She explained: ‘They’d actually looked through the waste and unbelievably found the bag and the envelope with all the birthday money in it.
‘We still can’t believe they took the time to look for what must have been a needle in a haystack and actually found it and returned it – it absolutely made the day even more special.
‘So thank you so, so much to all involved for going that extra mile – it’s very much appreciated.’
The story was posted on Stockton Council’s Facebook page where people heaped praise on the refuse team.
One said: ‘I always praise these guys and this just shows how awesome they are.
‘Well done guys, and well done Stockton Council.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.