A MELKSHAM man has been reunited with his childhood wallet 35 years after it was stolen when he was on holiday in Devon, thanks to Facebook.

While Shelley Davies, 46, from Shaldon in South Devon, was having her new house renovated opposite her deli shop, builders pulling up fascia boards were surprised to see a wallet fall on the floor.

Inside was an old £1 note and a picture of a young boy with John Steel written underneath, and on the back an address at The Lye, Seend.

Puzzled as to how it got there and who it belonged to, the mum of two and her husband began to piece together clues and turned to the Facebook in the hopes of reuniting it with its owner.

They messaged Melksham Town Council asking if they post the picture of the young boy on their Facebook page, in the hope someone knew a John Steel or recognised the picture.

“Within minutes we had found him,” Mrs Davies said, “It goes to show what the power of Facebook can do.”

The post had been shared over 50 times and Mr Steel was alerted to it by his friends.

Solving the mystery of how the wallet ended up more than 100 miles away from Wiltshire, he wrote that when he was 10 and on a caravan holiday with his friend’s family, they woke up in the night to see someone climbing out the window with his wallet and he thought he would never see it again.

Mrs Davies believes the thief stashed the wallet in her house, part of which used to be a storage room for a pub. Police were known for standing outside it, so the thief hid it to save being caught.

She added: “I think he is quite amazed I think he was really really pleased and I’ve sent it back to him. The sentimental value is huge, but the £1 note isn’t going to get him far these days.

“It’s a lovely ending and we are really really please we could re-unite him with his long-lost wallet.”