A mum has thanked a kind-hearted security guard who gave her cash out of his own pocket after she lost her vital grocery money.

Lucy Aldous had been shopping at Sainsbury's supermarket in Kingsmead Road, Canterbury, at about 3.15pm today when she realised her £50 was missing.

The 28-year-old had budgeted for the money to cover the next week's worth of groceries.

But as she and her 10-year-old daughter reached the tills with their shopping, she realised the cash was no longer in her pocket.

"This was the only money I had to do a shop to last for over a week, until my next pay day" said Miss Aldous, who lives in St Stephen's.

"I was in bits. My little girl started crying, bless her, and because she was crying I started crying too.

"We searched the store twice and even staff and security looked. We couldn't find it anywhere. Clearly someone had picked it up and not handed [it] in.

"There we both are in tears, worried about what we are going to do."

They had been making their way out of the store empty-handed, when a good Samaritan thankfully stepped in to save the day.

"A security guard came up behind me," said Miss Aldous.

"He said 'I'm sorry to hear about what happened. It isn't a lot, but I've got £20 I can help you with'. Then he went outside and got it straight out of his bank and came back in and gave it to us.

"I was crying more than I was in the first place. My little girl burst into tears.

"It's just such a lovely thing for him to do, and he didn't have to. He doesn't know us, he did it through the kindness of his heart."

Although she didn't manage to catch the man's name, she has since taken to Facebook to express her heartfelt gratitude.

"I want to say a massive thank you," she wrote. "I'm just so glad there are still some very generous people in this world.

"He was amazing, I couldn't thank him enough. His generosity made me cry even more."

Her post has already garnered more than 150 likes and comments, with many praising the man's "kind" and "wonderful" gesture.

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