A charity worker was left stunned after she found bank notes totalling £1,000 hidden in a sack of donated clothes.

Wendy Balicki, of Ipswich Road in Norwich, was sifting through the bag of items donated to the Big C's distribution centre in Wymondham when she found the piles of cash.

Although staff occasionally find 'the odd penny' while sorting items, coming across the notes came as a shock, Mrs Balicki said.

'It was a definitely a surprise for me - but a really nice one,' she added.

But fearful that the money may have been sent in by accident, the team have now issued an appeal to track down the generous donor.

'It caused quite a bit of excitement at the time, though we are very mindful that the money may have been put there as an oversight,' Mrs Balicki said.

'Sometimes people do donate to the charity in different ways but it would really reassure us to know that someone meant to do this and that it wasn't just an oversight on their part.'

Staff are unable to trace where the clothes came from - or even whether the bag was from one or more benefactors.

The Big C, which provides support to those suffering from cancer, has a policy in place which covers accidental donations - if the owner doesn't come forward within 30 days of publicity, the charity deems that the intention was to donate the money.

Nikki Morris, deputy CEO at the Big C, said: 'We realise that from time to time items, including cash, will be donated to the charity by mistake. When this happens Big C will do everything in its power to reunite the item or cash with its owner.

'If the money was intended as a donation then that is lovely, but this is a lot of money and may have been put away for other reasons and then forgotten.'

The cash isn't the first unusual find to be unearthed at the Wymondham centre - last year, an old book intended to be a gift for the royal family turned up among donated items.

The hardback, called the Wildflowers of Australia, had a handwritten dedication to 'Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Duke of Edinburgh. A gift from Australia' and is dated February 25 1954.

If you know anything about the money, contact the BIg C on 01603 619900.

Do you have a Wymondham story for us? Contact reporter Lauren Cope on Lauren.cope@archant.co.uk