A little boy has been reunited with his lost plush monkey after it went on a 600-mile train adventure.
Kayna Tay, 43, and her three-year-old son misplaced the beloved toy, which the tot had since birth, while changing carriages from Oakham, East Midlands, to Bristol Temple Meads.
After finally arriving to Birmingham New Street, they realised they left the boy’s favourite monkey behind – so they rushed to the station reception to report it.
Customer service assistants Leon Allen and Vinny Murphy arranged for a search to take place, and the toy was found after the train arrived in Edinburgh.
The cuddly primate travelled back down to Birmingham New Street on Network Rail that same day.
While being stored overnight at the station’s reception, staff dressed it in a tiny, hand-knitted jumper made as a Christmas decoration, featuring a sparkly double arrow rail logo.
The toy was then placed on a train to Bristol Temple Meads on Tuesday, from where Ms Tay collected it.
Network Rail said it clocked up an extra 619 miles on top of its planned trip, with journeys on CrossCountry, Avanti West Coast and Great Western Railway services.
Ms Tay said: ‘My little boy was inconsolable when we realised we’d lost Monkey on the train and we arrived at Birmingham New Street.
‘But the treatment we received from the customer services team there, who mounted a miracle mission to find the monkey again, was above and beyond what I could have expected.
‘I can’t thank everyone involved enough, across all the train companies, for not only making my little boy smile again, but he loves Monkey’s new jumper and is full of questions, fascinated by the adventure he’s been on.’
Mr Murphy said: ‘It was heartbreaking to see Kayna’s little lad so upset that he’d left his best friend on the train, so it was the least we could do to get straight on the phone to try and track him down.
‘Spotting a tiny Christmas jumper in our station reception for him to wear was then the icing on the cake.
‘We’re so pleased we could have helped. Monkey is back home for cuddles where he belongs.’
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