A GOOD SAMARITAN leaped in to pay for a Dunfermline woman’s shopping after she realised she had forgotten her purse.

Not all superheroes wear capes but for Ruthie Yule, her hero arrived at Aldi in the shape of a man called ‘Stephen’.

Ruthie, 63, of Glenshiel Grove, says her “faith in humanity has been restored” by the generous act.

She told the Press: “I am still gobsmacked! Honestly, I just really can’t believe it.

“Stephen wouldn’t give me his surname or address to pay him back but he did allow me to give him a big hug!

“I was completely stuck, and I just never thought someone would do that for me!

“He was just a really lovely person – chivalry is not dead after all!”

When Ruthie reached the till at Aldi in Dunfermline on Friday her groceries ringed in at £37.03.

But, to her horror, she discovered didn’t have any cash or bank card.

“Stephen”, then behind in the queue, only had two items to buy but he said: “Don’t worry, I’ll get that.”

Ruthie told the gentleman that she possibly couldn’t let him do that and arranged to dash home for her purse.

But “Stephen” said: “Just look on me as a Good Samaritan.”

He later told Ruthie that the same thing had happened to him and now he was passing on the favour.

Ruthie added: “I will pass on the favour in a minute now!

“Even the cashier was gobsmacked! They didn’t know what to do!

“My husband tells a lot of jokes, so our friends didn’t believe us when we told them.

“He posted the story on Facebook and it reached as far as friends in Belgium.

“Now people across the world are telling the story!”