RESIDENTS who received cash from a mystery millionaire are a step closer to discovering where it came from.

For the past five years, lucky individuals across the country have been sent surprise envelopes or Christmas cards, containing cash from an anonymous benefactor.

In January 2015, Colchester councillor Dave Harris received an envelope containing an anonymous letter and £200 cash.

Mr Harris was one of a number of people who received hundreds of pounds through the post from the anonymous donor.

He gave the money to three residents’ associations and helped pay for a community fun day.

In June 2015, he found another envelope containing £200 and donated it to the Hopper Bus which takes people to Abbey Field Medical Centre.

A writer has now contacted the Gazette to tell the extraordinary story of how he came to pen a book about the generous millionaire, who calls himself Tom Jones.

Nick Fisher wrote the book Giving Away My Millions.

He said: “I was in a pay and display car park, and as I was getting a ticket from the machine this guy approached me and asked me if I had a pound I could give him as he’d left the house without his wallet and had no change for a ticket.

“I started laughing and asked him was he taking the mickey, as he was driving a £150,000 Bentley - and he was asking me for a quid.

“He assured me it wasn’t a wind up and he genuinely had forgotten his wallet, so I gave him a pound.

“He said thanks and as I turned to walk back to my car he said ‘Here, this is for you’.

“He handed me two £50 notes and my £1 coin back.

“It transpired this was one of his tests he does where he rewards people for their generosity or acts of kindness.”

Halstead Gazette:

Nick tracked down the owner of the Bentley and sent the benefactor a copy of one of his books.

He said: “He then contacted me and we exchanged emails, I asked him if he’d ever thought about writing a book about what he does, which is how the book materialised.”

In the run up to Christmas the anonymous donor sends out a few Christmas cards, selecting random addresses using Google street view.

The idea came to him when he saw an advert for the Postcode Lottery.

Nick said: “Unbelievable, I know, but it’s true. He sends five cards to each town and it was whilst I was writing about this he told me some of the places he sent the cards to, and Colchester was one of them.”

The millionaire is adamant on keeping his identity a secret.

Visit givingawaymymillions.com.