Puzzlement turned to surprise for a March woman in an Indian restaurant last night when she was quizzed about her previous visit – and then given £20.

It turned out the customer had dropped the £20 note on the floor following her last visit – before Christmas- and staff had been waiting expectantly ever since to return it.

The woman posted on a Facebook public forum today that “I was so taken aback last night in a good way when I visited Shah Jahan for a meal.

“When ordering he asked us when we last visited...I recalled just before Christmas. “The waiter said that night when I left I dropped a £20 note near my table.

“They proceeded then to knock the £20 of our bill....what can I say?

“All this while and they were still looking out for us. Honesty at its best; they will always have my custom... thank you.”

Within four hours nearly 300 forum readers had ‘liked’ the story, many writing their own praise of the Indian restaurant.

“That’s an amazing story of honesty,” said one man.

Another woman wrote: “That’s amazing! Not many companies would do that”.

One other woman posted that “they’re a great bunch, lovely people, and lovely food always”.