UK: Elderly man reunited with $110,000 he left in Heathrow airport

It looked like a tragic tale of an elderly immigrant losing his life savings.

As the Daily Mail reported, an 81-year-old Thai man had no sooner arrived in London than he was apparently the victim of a theft.

His bag, carrying the nest egg he'd saved up to buy a property in the UK – around $110,000 in Australian dollars and Thai baht – was nowhere to be found when he left the coach he'd taken from the airport to Portsmouth, in southern England.

Police assumed the cash had been stolen and warned local banks to look out for anyone attempting to exchange a large amount of Australian dollars or baht into pounds.

Yet CCTV footage showed that the man had never taken the bag aboard the coach.

They contacted the airport authorities and were able to locate the bag – and with its contents intact.

"It is not every day someone leaves behind a bag containing such a large quantity of cash at the airport," PC Howard Day told the BBC.

Officers have informed the owner, who is "relieved", said Day.