A pensioner today thanked a mystery Good Samaritan who came to her rescue as she was stranded at a train station following her grand-daughter's wedding.

Eileen Shrimpton, 84, of Dickens Drive, Laindon, had travelled with a friend on c2c to London to attend the wedding of her grand-daughter at the Tower of London.

When she returned, the c2c train terminated at Laindon and Mrs Shrimpton, with hundreds of other passengers, were forced to wait outside the station for a taxi or bus.

Mrs Shrimpton, said: "It was quite late in the evening and so it was pretty cold. There was so many people about there wasn't any chance of us getting a cab. I didn't know how we were going to get home."

It was at this point the man - who had been seated near to the pair on the train - stepped forward to offer his help.

Mrs Shrimpton said: "The man said he was a railway worker and had overheard us discussing our problem of how to get home.

"He volunteered to cycle back to his house nearby and drive back in his car to give us a lift. It was a very generous offer and we were very grateful for the help. He went off and true to his word he came back and drove us back to my house."

Mrs Shrimpton said it was an "extremely kind" gesture particularly as they did not know each other and she wanted to send him her thanks.

She said the kind-hearted gesture marked the end of a lovely day in which she witnessed her grand-daughter getting married at the historic Tower of London.

Published Monday, June 2, 2003

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