A good Samaritan is trying to track down a man he gave a bottle of wine to after the recipient was falsely accused of stealing the alcohol from a discount supermarket.

Bank worker Ian Chadwick was shopping in Lidl in Broadway, Maidstone, on Saturday evening when another customer, who he believes may have learning difficulties, asked for help finding the tinned beans and sausages.

The father-of-one, 48, obliged and was touched by the politeness of the younger man, who addressed him as “sir” and seemed very grateful.

Mr Chadwick, who lives in Maidstone town centre, continued shopping but soon spotted his acquaintance again, counting coins to see if he could afford a tin of chicken curry.

The shopper, who was slim, about 5’10” and wearing a padded blue hat, could not so he put the tin down and left with other items, which he had already paid for.

He’s probably sitting at home thinking ‘I haven’t done anything wrong’, Ian Chadwick

Mr Chadwick said he wanted to buy the tinned meal for the man but there was a long queue at the till so instead he caught up with his fellow customer in the car park and gave him a bottle of red wine he had purchased to drink with his own dinner.

He said: “I wanted to buy him the chicken curry but I didn’t have time. I would have picked up his shopping bill but I didn’t want to embarrass him, so I gave him the wine.

“He was so overwhelmed. He actually hugged me. My heart was melting.”

But the generous shopper’s joy turned to despair when he returned his trolley to the trolley park and spotted the bottle of South Australian zinfandel in the hands of a security guard.

He claims the security guard said he found the man with the Lidl wine and no receipt and took it from him assuming it was stolen.

He continued: “I love Lidl but they made me so sad. He’s probably sitting at home thinking ‘I haven’t done anything wrong’.”

Mr Chadwick is appealing for the man to get in touch and urging Lidl to apologise.

He added: “He deserves a Christmas hamper and if Lidl won’t give him one I will.”

A spokesman for Lidl said: "We were very sorry to hear about this incident and can confirm that an investigation was launched as soon as our customer services team was made aware."

If you think you know who the mystery man is, or if it's you, please email messengernews@thekmgroup.co.uk, call the newsroom on 01622 695666 or pop into the Kent Messenger office, just off Maidstone High Street at 6 and 7 Middle Row.