A MAN who lost his wallet 35 years ago has finally been reunited with his lost possession after it was found within the walls of a leisure centre in St Ives, Cornwall.

Richard Lane believes his wallet was stolen in 1978 but incredibly he now has it back, complete with driving licence and gym membership, after Tony Noé and Richard Thompson made the discovery while working on the development.

The wallet was found by the contractors behind a wall on the top floor, near the lift shaft, which Mr Lane, aged 58, believes is due to his wallet being disposed of in the lift. He moved to Evesham from St Ives in 1985.

“It’s amazing, absolutely amazing that the wallet’s been found,” said Mr Lane, of Pershore Road, Hampton. “I’ve been contacted by a lot of my friends who still live in the area and my mother to let me know. It’s the only wallet I’ve ever lost. I thought that someone had ‘half-inched’ it. It looks like someone has taken about £10-15 out of it then chucked into the lift shaft to hide it.

“I was living at home at the time and was free and single so I spent a lot of time at the centre, playing squash and swimming.”

In Mr Lane’s wallet was an original gym membership card, his driving licence, payment records, guarantees and a trade union membership card for SOGAT for when the then 23-year-old worked at St Neots printing firm Samuel Jones and Co.

Simon Bell, One Leisure general manager, said: “Our lost property policy is only to keep items for three months and we are delighted to make this exception for Mr Lane and keep his property safe for 35 years.

“Now we know that Mr Lane was a keen squash player helps explain why the wallet was found where it was as there used to be squash courts in the same area where the new Impressions gym is located.”

Mr Noé said: “All of the contractors working on the redevelopment have been amazed that an item like this can remain undiscovered for so long and especially in perfect condition.”