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'Hero' siblings find cafe's stolen till on railway line

Family picture One young boy and one young girl with black hair, grey t-shirts and dark-coloured eyes looking into the camera, with a green straw in front of the girl.Family picture
Armin, 13 and Layla, 12, spent their half term looking for a stolen till

Two siblings spent their half-term school holiday finding and returning a cafe's stolen till.

When Armin and Layla heard Snails Delicatessen in Cardiff was broken into three weeks ago, they decided to search the area.

"I just like helping our community, I love our community spreading joy and helping around," Armin, 13, said.

Fran Sykes, 53, who owns the cafe, posted a thank you to the pair on social media site Facebook, calling them local heroes.

She added: "We gave them a reward of warm chocolate brownies, sprinkles and ice cream... they were delighted to have found it."

Fran Sykes A broken till, the drawer is stacked on top of the main till with leaves and other fragments of debris inside the drawer. There is also a fake snail and a wooden floor in the background. Fran Sykes
The till was found on the tracks of Rhiwbina train station and was retrieved with the help of railway staff

Armin and his 12-year-old sister Layla are often found doing good deeds such as litter picking in the park and clearing up the streets.

Layla said the pair would start searching for the till at about 09:00, beginning their search in Caedelyn park, before expanding it across Rhiwbina.

Fran Sykes A bright yellow shop front, with a red post box in front of it. There are also various decorative elements including a pink sign that says love and pink tassles on the inside of the shop window. There is also a plant based archway outside. Fran Sykes
Owner Fran Sykes applauded the "local heroes" for their efforts

The hard work paid off on Halloween, when they spotted the till on the tracks of Rhiwbina railway station adjacent to the park.

The station was closed at the time and inaccessible, but they enlisted the help of railway staff who helped retrieve the missing till.

"We put the till back together in the park, and carried it in my jumper... to make sure there were no fingerprints on it," Layla said.

There was still £2 inside the till when found, which Fran split between the pair giving them £1 each.

And how did Armin spend his £1?

"I gave it to the homeless," he said.