Malvern homeless man's stolen guitar recovered

Police said they had given the recovered guitar back to the homeless man

A homeless man has been reunited with a guitar after it was stolen as he slept in a shop doorway in Worcestershire.

CCTV images released by police showed the guitar being taken outside Fragrance House, in Malvern, on 17 April.

The man known as Phillip said there had been a "wonderful outpouring of goodwill" from the community after his story was shared thousands of times on social media.

A man has now been charged with theft.

The 38-year-old was arrested at his home address in Pickersleigh Road, Malvern, and a guitar was recovered, said West Mercia Police.

Of the suspected theft, Phillip said he had been lying with his bag underneath his head, after "going through a bit of a rough patch".

"I hadn't been sleeping well and woke up and the guitar was missing," he said.

"I'm quite well known in the area," he explained, "so I'm quite surprised it happened to me."

"It's a very small town Malvern, it's bad to think something like that could happen, to be honest."

After police shared the CCTV images, he said he had been offered "many, many, many" replacements.

"Since being homeless I've had wonderful support from the local community."

The accused is next set to appear at Worcester Magistrates' Court on 16 June, police said.