Boy saves the day after Christmas kitty stolen

Ethan wanted to help after his local shop was burgled

Good Samaritan Ethan has become a bit of a Christmas star.

The 13-year-old from Kinnerley, Shropshire, has been raising money so that staff at his local shop can still enjoy a Christmas dinner together after a burglary in November.

Workers had been saving their lottery winnings all year to pay for the special meal and had collected £380, but thieves took the lot during the break-in.

Ethan could not believe what had happened, so contacted family, friends and neighbours asking them to help replace the funds.

'Really sad'

Ethan said: "I heard about [the burglary] in school and thought 'no way it's been robbed'. So I went on my mum's phone and put the message out to loads of local people and they put amounts of money in and altogether we raised £110."

Shop owner Adam Smith contributed the rest.

Manager Wendy Ellis said of the break-in: "They took all the cigarettes and some alcohol as well. They couldn't get into the safe, so they pulled it off the wall and took that too."

She added: "Ethan did a lovely thing and raised some money for us to enjoy our night out, which is going to be lovely.

"It was quite emotional really - we knew people liked the shop, but it was lovely to think the younger generation cares too."

Mum Zoe (left) and shop manager Wendy Ellis (right) are proud of what Ethan has done

Ethan's mum Zoe said: "I'm incredibly proud. Teenagers get such a bad name. When he told me about the shop and told me his idea, I thought it was wonderful.

"Everyone was super generous. It's a small village and it was lovely everyone came together to support the shop."

Staff are having their Christmas meal at the Three Pigeons in Nesscliffe on the 18 December where they say they will be toasting Ethan.