HONEST electricians Gareth and Tony made a woman's day - when they handed her £500 they had found under her carpet.

Anne Noon, 83, spent more than a decade unaware the stash of £10 and £20 notes was hidden right under her feet in the bedroom where husband Peter died 11 years ago.

So when Bolton workmen Gareth Longworth, 20, and Tony Williams, 45, peeled back the rug to show her their find, she was gobsmacked.

Mrs Noon, who has bought the pair a thank you card, said: "My husband died of cancer and had the little back room in his last months. The electricians came to do the wiring and they lifted the carpet up as I was downstairs, and shouted me up.

"They showed me all these notes, just spread out under the carpet. My husband must have put it there - I could have done with that when I was bringing up my seven children.

Hoovering 

"The men were so honest. They could've pocketed that and I would never have known. I've been hoovering that carpet for 11 years since I laid it to make the room nice for my husband."

She added: "I'd like to go on holiday with it, but I won't buy a passport because it lasts 10 years and I doubt I'll live that long.

"So I've put it in the bank. Maybe they can bury me with it."

Apprentice electrician Gareth, of Pemberton Street, Bolton, found the cash. He said: "The boss told me to go upstairs and get the floorboards up. When I pulled back the carpet and saw all these notes, I took a step back and just thought, `Oh, God.'

"It was scattered everywhere. I thought `don't touch' - you couldn't take it off an old lady could you?"

The pair work for Rhino Electrical, employed by Worsley firm Jackson Lloyd to rewire Mrs Noon's home in Halton, Widnes. Foreman Tony, 45, of Lodge Road, Atherton, said: "When the lady saw the money she just stood there looking at it. She wouldn't even pick it up, so I put it in her hands. I was really pleased for her. It didn't even enter our heads not to give it up.

"It was nice it was someone who needed the money, not just someone saying, `thank you very much' and sticking it in their back pocket."

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