A GRATEFUL father today issued a heartfelt thank you to an honest shopper who saved his family's holiday by handing in a lost bag containing £2,000 and their passports.

A GRATEFUL father today issued a heartfelt thank you to an honest shopper who saved his family's holiday by handing in a lost bag containing £2,000 and their passports.

Mark Deguzman, of Belvedere Road, Ipswich, was on his way to book a family holiday to the Philippines when he stopped off to have a look at a catalogue in the town centre's Argos store.

Without thinking, he wandered off, leaving his bag containing the cash, travel documents and his family's passports on the floor.

It was only when Mr Deguzman, 33, met up with his wife Carol that he realised his error and started to panic as he retraced his steps.

Mr Deguzman, who has a four-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, said: “I was shaking so much because I had such a lot of money in there and valuable documents.

“My first thought was 'we are in big trouble, this means no holiday for the family'. There was everything in that bag - credit cards, certificates, passports, cash.

“I was running down the street in a complete panic and when I got to Argos I could not talk or describe the bag to them because I was just trembling.”

Fortunately someone had handed in the bag, which still contained all its contents much to Mr Deguzman's relief. He went home to recover from the shock but the following day booked the holiday.

He said: “I couldn't believe that it had been handed in because I had lost all hope. It just shows you can trust people and there are honest people around. It would have been such a hassle to replace everything and would probably have cost me another £1,500.

“If this had happened in London or the Philippines, I would have never got it back but I think Ipswich is an honest place.”

What do you think of this story? Are there still honest people left out there? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.

THE Deguzman family are keen to trace the honest person who handed the bag in to Argos on Tuesday lunchtime.

Thanks to this person's kind-hearted action, the family are now able to go on their two-week holiday as planned.

Mr Deguzman said: “We just wanted to say a massive thanks to whoever handed the bag in. I'm very curious to find out who it was and would love to track them down to tell them how much we appreciate it.

“When I lost the bag, I was sure I would never see it again so I was over the moon that someone had been that considerate.”

If you were the Good Samaritan who handed in the bag contact us on 01473 324791 or e-mail starnews@eveningstar.co.uk.