A 13-year-old boy has given away thousands of euros in the streets of his neighbourhood in Germany.

According to police in the southern German city of Bad Tölz, the teenager took the money secretly from his family home.

He gave the cash to other youngsters, some of who he knew from his local football club, later telling officers he was trying to be popular and make new friends.

Some took the money to the police station, and officers later tracked down the boy. However, only 4,500 euro has been accounted for, and he is believed to have distributed 10,500 overall.

Police are asking other beneficiairies to come forward.

The parents told police they had not given permission to the boy to distrubute the cash. There was no information on why the parents had that amount of money in their family home.