Ref. 75775-23A STUDENT has said a big thank-you to the man who found his stolen A-level notes.

Nicholas Sutton, 18, a sixthformer at St Joseph's School, was delighted when postman Andrew Allen contacted him to say he had found the bag of notes dumped in his front garden.

The papers were in a bag stolen by thieves who broke into his Vauxhall Corsa.

They also took his stereo and a remote controlled car, while the vehicle was parked in Ferndale Road on January 19.

Mr Allen, 43, who lives with his wife Lamia, 30, and daughter, Alicia, seven months, in Rodbourne, said: "I found the bag in my garden on Monday and it must just have been dumped there because I didn't see it when I took the bins out.

"My first thought was somebody had stolen something and didn't want it anymore.

"I found the notes and a telephone number, which was Nicholas' friend, and gave him a ring."

Nicholas was with his friend when Mr Allen rang and they arranged to meet up in the Greenbridge Retail Park car park.

Nicholas, who lives in New Town said: "I really wanted to thank Andrew personally.

"I didn't think there was any chance that I would get the notes back and I thought I would have to start from scratch.

"Eighteen months worth of work was stolen all the notes I needed for my exams."