Honest Cabbie Returns Passengers' Fortune

A taxi driver in Singapore has been praised for remarkable honesty after handing in £500,000 which he found in the back of his cab.

Sia Ka Tian, who is 70 and has been driving taxis around Singapore for more than 30 years, had just dropped off a Thai couple who were on holiday in the city.

He then found a black paper bag on the back seat. Inside was one million Singapore dollars which equates to just over £500,000.

"When I saw the money, I thought, trouble is here. I was sure there was at least $200,000 in the bag," Mr Sia said in an interview with the Singapore Straits Times.

He immediately took the stash of thousand-dollar bills to the local lost property office. He and his colleagues counted it and discovered how much was really there.

"The money is unimportant to me. It doesn't belong to me, so how can I use it?'' he said to the newspaper.

The Thai couple are said to have reported their loss to the taxi company.

Mr Sia was waiting for them when they arrived to claim their money.

According to local media reports, the driver has been rewarded for his honesty and will be given an award by his company.

It is unclear why the Thai tourists were carrying so much cash.