A kind stranger put this smile on the face of Ryan King - by secretly paying for his meal.

When his carers asked for the the bill, the 20-year-old with cerebral palsy discovered a family on the next table had quietly picked up the £20 tab.

The man who had paid, his partner and two children had got chatting to Ryan and his two carers but had made no mention of his act of kindness before leaving.

All the mystery benefactor said was ‘it’s been lovely to meet you - enjoy the rest of your day’ before leaving Zizzi in the Trafford Centre on Monday night.

Ryan, from Rochdale , and his carers only realised the kindness when they asked for the bill and the waiter told them who had paid.

(Image: Zizzi)

One of Ryan’s carers, Faizal Shah, 31, told the M.E.N: “It was a really nice, what they did. It was out of the blue. The waiter just came up and and said the family next to us had sorted it. Honestly, words cannot describe how I felt. Ryan was really happy.”

Ryan - who uses a wheelchair - cannot walk or talk but understood perfectly the act of generosity, as the beaming picture taken of Ryan moments later demonstrates.

He is a regular at Zizzi and had enjoyed a dinner of beef in a red wine and mushroom sauce followed by tiramisu.

His mother Paula, 49, was so pleased she posted about the incident on Facebook in a bid to trace the man who had picked up the tab so she can thank him personally.

She wrote: “Can I ask all of our friends to please share this post. Today Ryan King went to the Trafford Centre with his carers Sharon Farrington & Faizal Shah. He dined in Zizzi’s and a family of 4 where on the next table, they got talking to Ryan’s carers because there was a delay in service.

"When the family were going the gentleman came over and said ‘nice to meet you and enjoy the rest of the day’ and off they went. The waiter came over around 10mins after to say the family had paid for Ryan’s meal, I would just to like to say a big thank you for doing something so kind for Ryan and a massive thank you from Ryan.”

She told the M.E.N: “I just popped it onto Facebook in the hope it gets to him so they can be thanked for what they’ve done. There aren’t many people out there like that.

“It was a really, really nice thing to do. They just got chatting while they were waiting for their orders. The guy never, ever said ‘oh by the way, I’ve paid’.

“Ryan’s got a smile that would light up any room. We’re just so grateful that someone would do that and make him so happy like that.”