Meet 'real-life Santa' who gave away 50 pounds notes to shoppers

London, Dec 29 (ANI): Shoppers in a village in South-western England, were left bewildered after a man secretly handed out 50-pound notes in a local supermarket.

The generous man, who has not been identified, secretly slotted the cash-filled envelopes into customers' shopping baskets, complete with letters wishing them a Merry Christmas before swiftly disappearing, the Telegraph reported.

It is understood that at least 12 people, including a retired couple, were the lucky targets of the Good Samaritan in the days leading up to Christmas.

The "grey haired" benefactor, believed to be in his 30s or 40s, became the real life Father Christmas as he walked through the crowded aisles of a Tesco store in Sampford Peverell.

Shocked customers initially thought it was an in-store promotion, but many locals are now convinced the series of events was a genuine attempt at kind-heartedness.

Tesco officials are now trawling internal CCTV footage in an effort to identify the man.

According to locals who received the envelope, it came with a message, which read: "Happy Christmas. I have recently been fortunate enough to have come into quite a lot of money - more than I need for myself and my family.

"So I thought that I would share some of it with other people - the 50 pounds enclosed is for you. I hope this enables you to have a little extra cheer this Christmas.

"You do not have to do anything other than spend the money - and it is real, there is no trick, no hidden cameras or catch. Just have a happy Christmas," it added.

Luke Davies, duty manager at the Tesco superstore, said the mystery benefactor had made quite an impression. While he was not on duty several staff mentioned it to him.

"They said a mystery man had been handing out cash and some were joking they wished he'd handed some to them," he said.

"Nobody seems to know a lot about who it was but several customers seem to have mentioned him handing out envelopes. I don't know why he would do it but if it's what it appears to be it's a very generous thing to do," he added. (ANI)