Keiahna Jackson has had £450 returned to her by her local bin men after it was accidentally thrown away.

The 18-year-old had recently celebrated her birthday and been given the cash by friends and family to help pay for a holiday, but she was left distraught when the money was accidentally chucked out with wrapping paper and been collected by Stockton Council’s refuse team.

Having realised the mistake, the family called up the council and asked for help to recover the money.

eiahna’s Mum, Leanne Best, told Metro newspaper: “I asked if there was anything they could do and [the council worker] said she would try but couldn’t promise anything.

“At that point, we just thought we had lost it and I poured myself a big stiff drink and sat outside, saying to myself, ‘it’s just money’, but in the current climate, I was really mindful that money is tight for people. I was thinking: how do I tell all those people that sent her gifts in the post?”

After hearing about Keiahna’s plight, the bin men sprang into action and began searching for a distinctive yellow bag that the family believed the money was in.

Incredibly, the money was located and found to be intact and on the same evening the team drove back to Keiahna’s home to deliver the cash back to her. They were met by a rapturous applause from neighbours, who thanked them for their hard work.

Leanne said: “They’d actually looked through the waste and unbelievably found the bag and the envelope with all the birthday money in it.

“We still can’t believe they took the time to look for what must have been a needle in a haystack and actually found it and returned it – it absolutely made the day even more special.”