The search for a man who left his pay packet in a west London pub before Christmas has ended in success after he came forward to claim the money.

Thousands of people appealed on social media over the Christmas break to find Mariusz, a Polish construction worker, who left his £600 wages on the floor in the Alexandra pub in Wimbledon, south London, on 21 December.

His first name, which was written at the top of the envelope, had been the only clue to his identity.

Mariusz, who did not tell pub staff his second name, claimed the money on Wednesday afternoon after he correctly described the envelope and named the amount of money inside. Pub management then double-checked his identity on CCTV.

After over 1.5 million Facebook views, 25 thousand shares, Twitter activity of over 3 million, he walks into the Alex & says “I’m MARIUSZ” pic.twitter.com/OETwpKK04U — The Alexandra (@TheAlexSW19) December 27, 2017

“It was quite anticlimactic after all that searching. He just walked into the pub and said, ‘I’m Mariusz and I think you’ve got my money.’ Apparently he went back to Poland over Christmas, but he didn’t tell his wife he’d lost his paycheck,” pub manager Mick Dore told the Guardian.

“He was a lovely bloke and he had tears in his eyes when he came in. Mariusz said his son had seen a photo of the envelope on social media and asked if it was him,” he added.

Dore, who runs the pub with his wife, Sarah, tweeted last Friday:

Somebody lost their Crimbo wage packet in here last night. We found it, and we've got it. Let us know the name on the front, how much, and which bar it was in, and it's yours. Please RT so we can get this fella his Christmas wages back. pic.twitter.com/yHMNEB55Pg — The Alexandra (@TheAlexSW19) December 22, 2017

The appeal went viral after Harry Potter author, JK Rowling, and entertainer Alan Carr retweeted the post to their millions of followers.

After claiming the money on Wednesday afternoon, Mariusz left a £50 tip for the waiter who found the pay packet on the floor of the pub last Thursday.