02/01/2009 - Shop owner leaves store unstaffed
A shopkeeper's belief in the decency of his customers has paid off after he opened his store on Boxing Day but left it unattended, relying on an honesty box to collect any payments.
Whether Tom Algie's insurers would have paid up in the event of a theft is open to question, but the 47-year-old owner of DIY store Practically Everything in Settle, North Yorkshire, is confident he made the right decision.
"I didn't think twice about leaving the shop open," Mr Algie said. "Settle is a lovely quiet rural town and there's never any trouble here. I put my faith in my customers and I wasn't disappointed."
He opened up the shop as usual but then took the day off, leaving an honesty box with a note attached asking people to take the items they wanted and leave the correct money.
When he returned to close up later that afternoon, he found that nothing had been stolen and payments totalling £187.66, along with some notes of thanks.
One read: "Thanks, Tom. This is why we moved to Settle. This shop would have been cleaned out in two and a half minutes in Bolton."
Another said: "I've just come from the centre of Manchester. I forgot just how lovely Settle is. This has made my day."
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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