A delighted customer got more than she bargained for when Halton Housing Trust ripped out her kitchen cupboards - and found £300 in cash behind the back of her units.

Great-grandmother Hilda Redmond, 86, who lives in Widnes was handed the wad of banknotes when workmen began refurbishing her home.

The work forms part of a massive £129 million improvement programme, designed to modernise customers’ homes with over 4,000 new kitchens, 1,900 new bathrooms, and 50,000 new double glazed windows.

Hilda vaguely remembers hiding the money behind her kitchen cupboards 10 months ago for safe keeping, but went away on holiday and completely forgot it was there.

Now, Hilda is grateful to the workers for handing over the cash. She is also looking forward to a gleaming new kitchen and is relishing the idea of spoiling her large family which consists of three children, eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Hilda said: “I hid the £300 in a slot at the back of my kitchen units before going on holiday to Llandudno with my daughter, Linda.

“I remember saying to Linda that we should put it somewhere as we didn’t need that much money before going off on holiday and having a really good time.

“I didn’t remember it was there and I’ve had so much on this year that I just forgot about it. I’m so glad that the workmen were so honest and handed the money back!”

She added: “I’ve decided to spend my money on my family and put some money towards my bills. There are certainly a lot of family members to look after as two of my grandchildren are actually twins!” 

The envelope stuffed with cash was discovered by two Connaughts Operatives who are carrying out improvement work on behalf of Halton Housing Trust.

Lisa Housley, Connaught customer liaison officer, said: “Obviously we were very surprised when we found such a large amount of money down the back of the kitchen cupboard so we immediately told Mrs Redmond what we had found.

“She was gobsmacked but then remembered putting it there sometime ago and it must have fallen down a gap at the back of the cupboard, so not only has she got a brand new kitchen but she’s also got a little windfall!

“It couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.  Mrs Redmond has been a delight to work with during the improvements and she has become very popular with the team.

“Obviously such a major scheme can sometimes cause a bit of disruption at the start but we went to great lengths to explain what would be happening and everything has gone very smoothly.”

As part of the improvement works, Hilda is receiving a new-fitted kitchen, an outside light, a hard wired smoke detector, a carbon monoxide detector and an electrical upgrade.

Nick Atkin, the Chief Executive of Halton Housing Trust, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Hilda has managed to find her £300 thanks to the honesty of the team carrying out improvement work to her home.

“Without the refurbishment work the money might never have been found so we are just glad that Hilda will now get the benefit of a new kitchen as well as a bit of extra money to spend on her family. However we have encouraged her to use a bank in the future.”