A pub manager has turned amateur detective in a bid to find a drunken man who left his Christmas pay packet under a table.
Mick Dore, 51, found the envelope containing hundreds of pounds at The Alexandra in Wimbledon, London – but it only has a first name scrawled on it.
There is no payslip inside, nor a contact number or even a surname. But Mick hopes that he can track down the owner of the cash by harnessing the power of social media.
He tweeted a picture of the envelope which has now racked up tens of thousands of shares from across the globe – with users from as far as Canada and New Zealand anxiously emailing in to ask if the punter has been found.
Pub manager Mick Dore tweeted a picture of the envelope which has now racked up tens of thousands of shares from across the globe
Mick hopes that the worker will come forward and tell him how much is in the pay packet, as well as their name, to confirm their identity.
He reckons that the brown envelope was dropped by a group of builders who were drinking in the pub throughout the evening.
They are then thought to have gone on to another venue after staff at The Alexandra refused to continue serving them because they had been drinking heavily.
Mick reckons that the brown envelope belongs to this man who was part of a group of builders
The group are then thought to have gone on to another venue after staff at The Alexandra refused to continue serving them because they had been drinking heavily
The bill was paid by a man with an English accent and a beard who gave his name as Geoff and said he worked at a construction firm.
The envelope itself has an Eastern European first name written on it and contains hundreds of pounds – although Mick will not reveal the exact figure to stop impostors from claiming the cash.
He also thinks that the group are likely to be from within three or four miles of the pub in southwest London.
The envelope was found at The Alexandra pub in Wimbledon, London (stock photo)
Thousands of retweets failed to find the man so the pub has now posted a CCTV image of the group in desperation.
Mick told MailOnline: ‘The reaction has been unbelievable, but we haven’t found him yet – and I’m not going to give up until we do.
‘There’s a good chance the guy has gone home for Christmas, but as long as we can find one of the group he’ll know that he’s got the money when he’s come back.
‘It’s a couple of week’s wages and it’s Christmas in three days time so we hope we can get it back to him before then.’
‘We’ve been in touch with local building companies but with no luck.
‘My iPhone is buzzing like an old fridge but I don’t mind – I’ve reached obsession point.
‘I’ve read a couple of Sherlock Holmes and I think we need Basil Rathbone to come out of the woodwork.’
If an owner for the money isn’t found in the next few weeks, the pub plans to hand the cash into the police.