AN Ilkley pensioner has praised a Bradford council worker for helping her retrieve her purse from a paperbank after she accidentally threw it away.

Barbara Way took a pile of old newspapers into the recycling bin in Back Grove, Ilkley, on Friday, March 6, when she also dropped in her purse.

"I contacted Ilkley Town Hall and they passed on my information to Bradford cleansing department. People normally don't have a good word to say about Bradford council but Gerry McDermott from the cleansing department was extremely helpful," said Miss Way.

Her purse contained about £30 and her bus pass.

Mr McDermott met Miss Way at the paper bank last Monday when contractors were due to empty the bins - but they did not turn up.

The next Friday they met again and this time they were in luck.

"The paperbank had to be emptied out onto the car park and myself and Mr McDermott spent nearly two hours hunting through the papers until we found my purse," said Miss Way.

"I'm very grateful for his help. I never thought I would see my purse again and when I got it back it still had everything in it."

Mr McDermott was not available to comment at the time of going to press but one of his colleagues said: "It was very much Mr McDermott's own initiative and he arranged for the bank to be emptied on site.

"It's not a regular problem that we have and it was the only thing that we could do in the circumstances."

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