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The parents of a severely autistic teenager have praised "the kindness of complete strangers" after a social media campaign helped them find a discontinued Postman Pat video to give him as a Christmas present.

James and Cindy Dutton took to Twitter to hunt down a rare Postman Pat VHS tape after their 19-year old son Thomas, who suffers from severe autism asked for it for Christmas.

Mr Dutton had hoped that the people of Twitter could help unearth a copy of the video.

After posting the message on Sunday, Mr Dutton’s tweet received 7,500 retweets.

It post read: “Does anyone have or know of anyone who may still have this VHS?”

The Twitter campaign was given a boost when it caught the eye of Strictly Come Dancing’s Brendan Cole who retweeted it to his 176,000 followers.

Eventually someone revealed that they had a copy of the tape.

Mr Dutton took to Twitter one again to express his gratitude.

Thomas' Parents said that the video would mean a "huge amount" to their son on Christmas day.

They said that Thomas had "always been obsessed with children's characters" but that Postman Pat was his favourite.

“I picked up a message from someone in Littlehampton who believed they may have a copy in their garage, but another was found in Bournemouth! Hopefully his mum and I will go and pick it up on Saturday.”

Among the many offering their support, Mr Dutton said he had also received supportive messages from Woodland Animations, the company behind Postman Pat.