Teens return more than $8,000 abandoned on a bench

Will Miles and Ryan McClory are very honest. The two 17-year-olds found an abandoned briefcase on a bench at a U.K. bus station. In the briefcase, they discovered £5,000 in cash (more than $8,000 CAD), several passports, used plane tickets and a letter from the University of Bath.

They immediately took it to the police station. But it was late and the station was closed. The teens had to flag down two officers on patrol to report their discovery.

"We were a bit shocked when we saw all the money in the case. We didn't know exactly how much it was but we could tell it was a large amount," Miles told This is Bath.

"We knew someone would be missing it and so decided to take it to the police station."

The grateful owner was soon reunited with the money, withdrawn to pay for his son's university fees and living expenses.

"I was pleased when I got the phone call saying he had the case back. It is a lot of money to have lost and so I am glad that we managed to get it back to him," McClory said.

Bath police, the teens' teachers and their parents are praising the teens for their efforts.

"It's refreshing to be able to praise young people for their honesty and integrity—and I'm sure the owner is extremely grateful that his property was found by two such public-spirited young men," Inspector Steve Mildren told BBC.

The teens' headteacher agrees.

"They were faced with what would be a moral decision for anyone to make, and they did the right thing," Andrew Davies said of his pupils.