Tiedi, who works as a driver for the Italian luxury goods company, Tod’s, found the cash in a bag in the car park of a shopping centre in Civitanova Marche, Today.it reported.

“I burst into tears when I returned it to its owner,” Tiedi said.

“It didn’t belong to me, that’s why I gave it back. He wanted to give me a reward, but I did not accept.”

The money belonged to a businessman in the area, who dropped the bag as he got out of his car before going into the shopping centre.

He had planned to deposit the money into a safe after the shopping trip.

Tidei spotted the bag, which also contained a mobile phone and other documents, lying underneath the car.

“My legs were shaking,” he said.

“But I didn’t think twice. Amongst all this money I found documents with his address on.”

While some people might have been tempted to keep the cash – especially over the Christmas shopping period – Tidei was philosophical about his good deed.

“In life, you have to do good,” he said.

“Evil is unnecessary. €43,000 doesn’t change your life, but a beautiful deed does.”