A small act of kindness can go a long way.

In Farrah Willmott's house a surprise gift for her 18-month-old son Leo has certainly gone down a storm.

Leo's prized possession was his Rara - a toy lion - which was bought by Farrah's mum for her grandson from Aldi.

A few weeks ago Farrah, 23, and fiancee Scott Whittle, 28, took Leo into Carlisle to the Aztec Soft Play centre.

"We then went shopping and a few other places and when we got back we realised Rara wasn't with us," said Farrah, of Silloth.

"We just thought it was going to turn up somewhere."

But it didn't. Despite frantic phone calls and a Facebook appeal Rara did not rear his head.

"I emailed Aldi themselves, because that's where my mum bought it from, to see if they had any left in a warehouse or if any stores still had them," she added.

"They emailed me back but said they couldn't find any as they were a special buy."

It was devastating news for the family as Leo seemed lost without it.

Farrah, a teaching assistant at the town's secondary school, said: "It's his favourite thing and goes everywhere with him.

"He's also got a penguin which was winning him round, but Rara was his favourite."

With the family thinking all was lost, a surprise package arrived at their home last week.

"In the morning I woke up and the postman came with a parcel and I thought 'I've not ordered anything'", she recalled.

"Aldi said they'd found [a lion]. I gave it to Leoand he was made up, he won't leave it alone.

"I just couldn't believe it, I was crying. They sent a letter too and how they wrote it was brilliant. To see his little face was amazing."

In the letter Lauren Dryer, a customer service adviser for Aldi, wrote: "We heard that you were missing your little man's best friend.

"We tried to ring around for you even to find one you could lend. Despite our best efforts we didn't have any left but it made us sad to hear that your little Leo was bereft."

It added: "But then a fairy godmother ran into the office, she was slightly panting 'I hear there is a little boy that wanted his wish granting?'.

"The fairy godmother waved her wand and there arrived the lion. 'I know that you couldn't find one but I knew that your were trying'.

"Our customer service team gasped at the little toy. The fairy godmother ended by saying 'look after this one little boy'."