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Original poster

If you found £15 in the street

137 replies

Thatsthatthen87 · 06/10/2022 14:29

Would you hand it in at the police station as you are supposed to?

Because I found £15 this morning, no one around and it was in the process of being blown onto the road. Obviously, I still have it but a quick Google tells me that it's considered theft. So, would you hand it in or not?

OP posts:
BadNomad · 06/10/2022 15:28

It's not that taxing of a job for the police. They don't go looking for the owner. They just hold it for a short while to see if someone comes to claim it.

decafsoyaflatwhite · 06/10/2022 15:28

If I found money on the floor in a shop I would hand it in to someone who worked there and hope they would be honest enough not to pocket it. Just randomly in the street, where it could literally belong to anyone and it was liable to blow away at any point, then I would keep it.

I did find a £20 note on the floor at an outdoor fundraising event recently though, so I gave it to the organisers to donate to the charity if nobody came to claim it. Keeping that would have felt like very bad karma!

Lampzade · 06/10/2022 15:28

I would just give it to charity tbh.

Beees · 06/10/2022 15:33

I'd keep it. It's all well and good saying take it to the police station but I tried that last time I found a purse and it turns out you can't actually go inside our local station. I was instead instructed to travel miles away to another station to hand it in. It took me over an hour to get there and back using public transport.

For an unidentifiable amount of money then no sorry I wouldn't be spending so much of my own money getting it to a station that was willing to take it.

MandyMotherOfBrian · 06/10/2022 15:35

Thatsthatthen87 · 06/10/2022 14:29

Would you hand it in at the police station as you are supposed to?

Because I found £15 this morning, no one around and it was in the process of being blown onto the road. Obviously, I still have it but a quick Google tells me that it's considered theft. So, would you hand it in or not?

Not even going to read the other replies. Just going to say, yes, I would.

In fact a couple of years ago me and DH found a £20 note on the floor outside the local Sainsbury’s. We handed it in to the front desk. They were astounded, and said we should keep it. It made me think less of them tbh. They told us if it wasn’t claimed we could come back in 28 days and have it. It wasn’t, I claimed it, then donated it to a local charity.

I couldn’t help but think it might have been dropped by someone who couldn’t have afforded their shopping otherwise, someones last twenty quid. Everyone else can do whatever they like but I couldn’t happily spend it under those circumstances. In fact it wouldn’t matter if I knew it was dropped by a millionaire. It isn’t mine, that’s all that matters.

Mammed · 06/10/2022 15:35

A €50 note literally blew into our bag whilst sat on the beach during our holiday last summer, it was like something off a film 😂
There was no one sat near us so I had no idea where it came from, I kept my eyes out the entire time for anyone who seemed to be looking for something but I didn't see anyone so just kept it.

I wouldn't hesitate to keep £15 if I didn't know where it had come from either, if it'd been me who'd lost it then there's no way I'd call the police to see if it had been handed it, so just assume whoever it belonged to knows they won't get it back anyway.

asblindasabat · 06/10/2022 15:36

yes I’d hand it in.

either to the local police station or a nearby shop/cafe etc.

It wouldn’t be my money to keep.

QOD · 06/10/2022 15:36

I found £40 in a bare car park in lockdown - made my day! and there was no one at all in sight, not within 5 mins or so either way so i kept it

threegoodthings · 06/10/2022 15:39

Absolute waste of police time handing in £15. If people lost £15 would they honestly go to the police station asking if it had been handed in?!

BadNomad · 06/10/2022 15:39

If you're not willing to take it to the police station, then just leave it for someone else to do. It is not your money just because you found it. You don't know anything about the owner. You don't know how what difficulties they might be in. £15 is a lot of money for some people. There are people who will ring around police stations looking for that amount because it's all they have. Lucky you if £15 is nothing to you.

EtiquetteQuestion · 06/10/2022 15:40

Thatsthatthen87 · 06/10/2022 15:14

Tbh, had someone been around I would have asked them. And if someone asked me if I'd lost cash and I hadn't, I would be honest about it. I haven't handed this cash into the police station though so I'm certainly not claiming to be a saint.

Show quote history

Yes, if that person in the car hadn't have been there, I think I would have pocketed the money and called it my lucky day.

SpinningFloppa · 06/10/2022 15:41

No I wouldn’t the police station is too far I would have to get 2 buses there why would I do that? Posting it on Facebook is also pointless as no way to prove it, I would just keep it tbh

Qisk · 06/10/2022 15:42

If I found £15 walking down the street,
I would just......walk on by,
Just walk on by.

RiftGibbon · 06/10/2022 15:43

I'd have to find a way to check for the owner.FB post or similar. My nephew lost his wallet in the street a few years ago. It had £20 which was all his pocket money he'd saved up. Never got it back. He was about 13 at the time and obviously very upset.
If no owner could be found I'd donate it to charity.

Cheshiresun · 06/10/2022 15:45

If it's not obvious that anyone is around in the street who it may belong to, it's not unreasonable to take it.

However, if found in a building/supermarket etc, you should hand it in there. Saw a case recently where exactly that happened, someone found £20 in a supermarket and kept it, they ended up in Court for theft.

asblindasabat · 06/10/2022 15:45

SpinningFloppa · 06/10/2022 15:41

No I wouldn’t the police station is too far I would have to get 2 buses there why would I do that? Posting it on Facebook is also pointless as no way to prove it, I would just keep it tbh

You can hand it in at a shop or a cafe.

Better still, Perhaps put it in a charity box when you find one if there are no shops nearby.

i just wouldn’t keep money that wasn’t mine

AriettyHomily · 06/10/2022 15:46

I'd keep it. You are never going for find the rightful owner.

A purse was left on table in mcds the other day with a bank card and a tenner, of course I handed that in, but £15 flapping around, no.

Libre2 · 06/10/2022 15:46

PinkButtercups · 06/10/2022 14:35

Nah, finders keepers.

I found £20 in the co op one day. Winner.

I lost £20 in a coop once - I’m claiming that.

CuriousCatfish · 06/10/2022 15:46

I'd keep it.

Cheshiresun · 06/10/2022 15:47

And handing it into a police station.... around here they have all closed anyway, there are no local police stations.

OldWivesTale · 06/10/2022 15:47

15 quid no. I once found 200 quid in an envelope and handed that in because I think someone is likely to go to the police station to ask about that. But 15 quid nobody would bother.

Beees · 06/10/2022 15:48

Better still, Perhaps put it in a charity box when you find one if there are no shops nearby.

How is putting it into a charity box any better than keeping it? The person who lost it still doesn't have it.

asblindasabat · 06/10/2022 15:52

Beees · 06/10/2022 15:48

Better still, Perhaps put it in a charity box when you find one if there are no shops nearby.

How is putting it into a charity box any better than keeping it? The person who lost it still doesn't have it.

Because, it means you aren’t keeping it for yourself when it’s not your money and it means it’s going to a worthy cause if you put it in a charity box.

DameHelena · 06/10/2022 15:53

If there was anyone around to ask, yes. But to be honest, if there wasn't, I'd keep it with a clear conscience. If I realised I'd dropped £15 in the street I might, if I noticed while still out, walk up and down my route again to see if I could spot it, but I wouldn't do more, much less go to the rozzers.

ChelseaRobertsofMalibu · 06/10/2022 15:54

This thread has genuinely depressed my mood even further.

The way I see it, whilst not always the case but generally speaking, the type of people to be walking down a pavement and to be carrying cash, are not likely to be particularly wealthy. Sorry to typecast but I think I'm not far wrong there.

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