A homeless woman has been by praised by a community for an act of kindness towards a stranger.

Emma Field, 39, had a parcel for her new business delivered to her address in Wymondham by UPS but wasn't at home to receive it.

The parcel was about to be left outside her front door which opens onto the pavement until Lizzie, a homeless woman in the town, walked by.

She took the parcel and tried to contact Emma to let her know she was going to take it to the library for safe keeping. But with the library unable to keep it, Lizzie knocked on the doors of Emma's neighbours until someone was able to take it.

When Emma was contacted by her neighbour to say she had the parcel, she was touched that Lizzie had helped her in that way.

'I had never come across Lizzie before and we didn't know each other but she was using her common sense and knew it might get trampled on,' she said. 'She didn't have to stop and get the parcel but she was doing what a neighbour would do and I wanted people to recognise her as a member of the community.

'Just because she has no home it doesn't mean she isn't a member of the community and from the comments on Facebook it seems like she does a lot for others and is well liked.'

Emma found Lizzie to thank her for what she did and got some shopping for her.

'I've also offered to do any washing she needs. She did something for me so I wanted to do something in return. I will now look out for her and will buy her a coffee when I see her.'

Emma shared the story on a Wymnondham community Facebook page and many other people have come forward with their stories about Lizzie, describing her as 'lovely' and 'always very polite and helpful'.