Hero taxi man returns lost purse

Published: December 3, 2007 | 6861st good news item since 2003

A Christmas superstar’ is shining in Chorley.

Taxi driver Mohammed Essa has been dubbed a hero after returning a woman’s lost purse – containing £500 in cash and credit cards.

Mohammed, aged 40, who operates Classic Cars, found the purse in the road as he was pulling up to his rank on High Street, Chorley.

Then he got his teeth into the mystery – tracing the owner from an Euxton dental practice card he found in the purse.

The 46-year-old woman, from Adlington, who asked not to be identified, described her knight of the road as a real superstar this week.

“The relief was absolutely enormous,” she said.

“I had £500 in my purse – my whole life was in my purse. I couldn’t believe it. I cried when I got the call from the dentists.”

She added: “I didn’t think there were that many honest people left in this world anymore. What a superstar.”

Mohammed said: “If I had lost something like that I would have felt the same way. I would hope somebody would hand it back.

“She was gobsmacked, there were tears in her eyes. Just looking at her face made me chuffed about it.

“She gave me £50 to thank me. I tried to turn it down, but she insisted because of the honesty.”

Mohammed said he thought the purse was a mobile phone or iPod cover when he first spotted it lying in the road last Wednesday.

“She’d got in a taxi before and must have just dropped it,” he said.

The woman said: “I was going to go out and do some Christmas shopping with the money. It is a huge, huge relief. It would have put me in a lot of financial hardship.

“I hope he gets some business out of it, with people asking for him because he’s a very trustworthy guy.”

She praised the police, too, saying: “I thought my purse had been stolen and they trawled through all the CCTV which I was very appreciative of.”

Published in Honesty
See also: www.chorleycitizen.co.uk