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A homeless man may have been handed a fortune by a mysterious benefactor who gave him a burger and a ‘Banksy’ picture as he sat boozing with his mates on a Crewe street.

Joe, not his real name, said the man pulled up in a ‘flash car’ and said he hoped the picture brought him luck, before driving off. Joe, who had never heard of the famous graffiti artist, is now taking the picture to an expert to see if it’s genuine.

“There were five of us,” said Joe. “We were just sat in Crewe about half past 10, 11 o’clock last night, big black car pulled up, give us some cups of coffee, burgers and chips in a bag from McDonalds.

“Then he pulled out this picture and said ‘I hope this brings you good luck, good spirit’.

“That was it and he just drove off.”

Joe said he didn’t think any more about it that night because they had all been drinking.

“I went to my mate’s this morning and showed him,” he said.

“He took it out the frame and said that’s a **** Banksy that, cos it’s got the name on it. I’d never heard of him. I don’t really do paintings.”

The picture, which would be worth thousands if genuine, is now being stored in a location outside Crewe until it is checked by an art dealer.

Joe has moved out of Crewe in the meantime.

He said: “If it’s genuine then I really have been handed a fortune. If it’s not, at least I had a meal. He bought us all coffees and burgers and chips.”