A table and chair used by three kind-hearted girls from Epsom for a charitable lemonade and jelly stand that was feared to be stolen has been returned, with the “culprit” admitting an honest mistake.

The Epsom Guardian ran a story last week on Mimi, 4, and Lula Bloom, 6, and their cousin Esme Goodwin, 9, raising about £20.50 to add to the £2,000 raised by a man pledging funds to refugees in Calais.

From last week: Young Epsom girls raising money for refugees in Calais camp have their lemonade and jelly stall 'stolen'

Mimi and Lula's mother Abbey Bloom, 41, a special needs teacher, from Epsom, pledged to double their collection and strangers online pledged to double and triple the money raised.

The girls, who were sitting on a white wicker chair – a present from Lula and Mimi’s grandmother – between serving their customers, had eventually raised £140.

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But their fundraising efforts were ultimately cut short after their stall (pictuerd above) was taken while they took a break from the heat on Monday, August 15.

Mrs Bloom conceded that it “could have been a mistake”, but said this was unlikely as it was clearly not out for rubbish collection as it was the middle of the day and that the girls had put a “closed” sign on the table.

She was relieved when both the table and the chair were returned on Thursday morning (August 18) – the day after the Epsom Guardian ran the original story.

Mrs Bloom contacted the newspaper to say: “Apparently it was a genuine mistake. We had a hug, a laugh and the person donated £10.”

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L-R: Lula, Esme and Mimi

The girls had offered to donate the money they raised to Rob Lawrie, a man from Rawdon in west Yorkshire, who quit his job to work full time to raise money for refugees.

Mrs Bloom first heard about Mr Lawrie’s campaign on social media, and by chance, was reminded of his work on the morning of Sunday, August 14 by a Facebook post.

She suggested that Mimi, Lula and Esme could donate whatever money they raised to his GoFundMe page, but the girls were already keen to help people in the Calais camp, often referred to as ‘The Jungle’.

Lula, 6, said: “It just came up in my mind. I wanted to help people.”

Since the article, which ran on Wednesday, August 16, more than £1,000 has been donated to Mr Lawrie’s fundraising page. It is unknown where the donors are from.

To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/nstkr5tu