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Big-hearted staff at a Teesside Aldi have been praised after they held a "whip round" for a distraught customer who had dropped £50.

The young man was in the Billingham store buying supplies for a cafe, where he worked, when he realised he'd lost his boss's money.

He searched the shop in tears - and when he told a staff member he could lose his job, compassionate colleagues raised the cash to pay his bill themselves.

Their generosity has been celebrated on social media, with posters saying the "amazing" gesture had "made their day" and "restored their faith" in humanity.

Neil Ince, from Billingham, was in the store when it happened and posted about the incident on Facebook after being "blown away" by the act of kindness.

He said: "I saw a really distraught young lad leave the shop after speaking to a staff member.

"They told me that he was in shopping for a cafe in the town, filled the trolley but then found that the £50 he was given had fallen out of his pocket somewhere and had been searching the shop in tears for the fear of losing his job.

"Aldi staff apparently had a whip round to pay for the lads shopping and also cover the change he would have got so his boss wouldn’t have been out of pocket."

Neil added: "I was just in a week later and saw the same lady, so enquired if the lad had found the money.

"It was then she told me about what the staff had done. I was blown away. That’s why I posted about it."

One poster online said: "Absolutely bloody awesome!

"We have supportive loving people in our community who would help anyone, love it.

"This is what I would love my daughter growing up hearing about and seeing, rather than all the negative stuff we’ve gone through as a community! Faith restored."

It's not the first time staff at the Billingham branch have helped customers out.

One poster added: "I lost £10 in Billingham Aldi and one of the staff found it.

"So when I called up, it was there. I was over the moon, lovely staff in there."

An Aldi spokesperson said: "Our colleagues were touched by this customer’s predicament and we wanted to do something to help.

"We hope to see him in store again soon.”