Three Peterborough teenagers praised after finding lost cash

THREE honourable teenagers from Peterborough have been praised for helping to reunite an elderly woman with a shopping bag containing hundreds of pounds in cash.
The trio of 13-year-olds from Dogsthorpe found the bag near Cheetans Mini Market, in Chestnut Avenue, on their way home from the Thomas Deacon Academy, in Queen's Gardens, on Thursday afternoon.

Beneath a layer of doggy treats, the group – Connor Burdock, Darryl Edwards and Jake Harding – found a Blackberry mobile phone and a purse containing a wad of cash, as well as bank cards and train tickets.
Darryl, of Poplar Avenue, said his first thought was for the owner of the bag.

He said: "I felt sorry for the person who lost it."
The resourceful boys then searched on the phone for contact details in the hope of tracing the owner, but the only number listed was a taxi firm.

They called the number, and the person who answered said they would come to collect the bag in five minutes in return for a reward.
The boys then called the police to report the discovery of the lost items.

However, before officers had the chance to arrive the owner of the shopping bag, an elderly woman in a mobility scooter, appeared from around the corner to re-discover her belongings.
Darryl said: "It was nearly at the end of the police conversation.

"She came round the corner and said 'that's my bag' and said 'thank you'."
The boys at first declined a reward, but the woman, who was due to head to London the following day, insisted and gave them 3 each.

This was spent, perhaps unsurprisingly, on sweets.
The youngsters have been richly praised for their actions.

A spokeswoman for Cambridgeshire police said: "The boys showed great initiative and thanks to their investigations were able to reunite the lady with her bag."
The Mayor of Peterborough Cllr Paula Thacker, meanwhile, said she was so impressed by the boys's sense of civic duty she said she would like to hear from them to arrange a meeting at the Mayor's Parlour in Town Hall, in Bridge Street.

She said: "If they want to get in touch with me and see me in the parlour they are very welcome to."
She added: "They are showing how the citizens in Peterborough should act when they come across anything.

"I think it's wonderful."
Darryl's proud mum Caroline Greenwood (32), of Poplar Avenue, said: "I was really, really proud. I was proud my son could do something like that."

She added: "I know there have been a lot of problems down Central Avenue with teenagers with anti-social behaviour. It just shows they are not all the same.
"I don't believe in labelling people, it just proves they are not all the same.
"No matter what people think there are good kids out there."