Joy after theft for Amelia,5

Amelia Higgings, five, was inconsolable when her Samsung Tab3 was stolen from the Lidl supermarket, Halifax Road, Todmorden, on July 19.

Amelia had left the device, a birthday present, on top of a fruit display in the store and after realising, ran back but found it had been taken.

But when Amelia’s mum, Jade Ledgister, posted details of the theft across the internet, a stranger made the young girl’s day by providing a new tablet, completely free of charge.

Miss Ledgister, 30, of Mytholmroyd, said: “She was heartbroken and I am absolutely devastated.

“We’ve had a bad year, she lost her grandad in January, I had a brain operation in April and then in June I was rushed to hospital with meningitis and this has just topped it off.

“I’m absolutely disgusted that someone could take it from a five-year-old girl.

“ I was crying my eyes out.

“Her dad has been working hard so she can have nice things.

“It’s the lowest of the low after the year she has had.”

But Miss Ledgister said she was “speechless” when the tablet was replaced.

“I just want to be able to give him something back to show how much we appreciate it, “ she added.

The man, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s just helping a child to not be affected by the consequences of selfish actions.”

Officers from the Neighbourhood policing team are currently investigating the incident and have been speaking with the victim and the store.