An iconic café has had its faith in humani-tea restored after one customer’s random act of kindness.

The owner of Sid’s Café in Holmfirth was left angry and upset after a mean-hearted thief swiped the tips jar from the counter and stole the change left for its hardworking staff.

The tearoom, made famous in TV series Last of the Summer Wine, was packed with customers on Saturday and the thief quickly pinched the collection unseen.

Owner Laura Booth put an appeal on social media to make other businesses aware and was left taken aback by one customer’s response.

Sid's Cafe owner Laura Booth

Laura, who has been running Sid’s for 11 years, said: “One of our regular customers saw what had happened and came down the next day donating £10 to replace the money taken by the thief.

“It was such a lovely thing to do and has really restored our faith in humanity. Another younger customer, a little boy who was with his parents in the café on Sunday, even gave us £2 to go back in the jar!”

The jar disappeared after a busy shift on Saturday and staff called Laura to say it had gone.

“It’s only a cup we put out to collect change as tips for staff,” Laura added. “My supervisor later found it in the bin in the toilet - empty of course.

“It’s just so mean.”

West Yorkshire Police were informed of the theft.

Laura added: “We were taken aback by the generosity of our customers. Other businesses do need to be aware though and empty tips jars every night.”