A SHOP owner has forgiven a man who "had a moment of madness" and took an Oktoberfest beer costume from a fancy dress business in York.

Miles Jackson, owner of the Festival of Fun fancy dress shop, in Goodramgate, said that an individual took the fancy dress costume last Thursday, June 13, without paying.

Frustrated and furious, Mr Jackson posted a plea on Facebook asking for residents to "please help identify this man" and contacted the police.

However, on Thursday, Mr Jackson was pleasantly surprised when the individual returned with the costume unused while also bearing gifts.

He said: “The police contacted me and said that the man was very sorry and that he would return the clothing to me unused if I dropped the charges.

“I agreed and when he appeared, he also brought some chocolates to say sorry and also paid for the costume, despite not using it.

"Thank you to him for returning our costume. He was very apologetic and put it down to a moment of madness, but all is forgiven.”

Mr Jackson also thanked members of the public for their help in sharing the appeal across social media platforms.

He said: “Thank you to everyone for helping us share the images and resolve our issue. He was certainly shamed into returning the property.

“It has been a strange week but the fact that he returned the items and paid for them also has prevented me from losing business so I feel that he deserved to be forgiven.

“I suppose it helps reinforce the notion of humanity and that people can realise what they have done wrong.

“Hopefully it prevent others from doing the same.”