LETTER: Whatever has happened to citizenship?

The person who had lost the wallet didn’t live locally and I couldn’t find a phone number for them. Therefore, as I couldn’t take the wallet to the police immediately I phoned and advised them what I had found. The police told me that they couldn’t help as they no longer deal with lost property. I fully understand that with the current level of resources the police can’t deal with minor lost items such as hats or umbrellas.

However, I was reporting items that might have been used to commit an identity or other fraud. This would have been clear to the police from my description of what I found.

I then phoned the person’s bank. They simply asked me to destroy the debit card. They refused to contact their customer and advise them where they could claim the wallet. Though not expressly stated, the implication was that doing so would contravene data protection. It wouldn’t. So much for customer service.

Fortunately, as a result of a bit of ‘detective work’ and a great slice of luck, the wallet and its owner were reunited the same day. The owner was very grateful and offered a reward.

I suggested that he might want to give it to charity. There are still some people who think of others.

Chris Rhodes

Manor Road, Ashgate