[Cherie]

Astruggling mum was left distraught when her daughter ordered a pizza without her knowing - and was shocked by the kindness of the delivery driver as she revealed she couldn't afford to pay for it. When the woman realised her 11-year-old had placed the order on her tablet she promised she would scrape the £18.50 together by the next day after breaking down in tears at the door.

Francesca Emmott from Colne, Lancashire, had just come home from a two-week holiday in Cyprus with her kids and parents on August 17, but due to unforeseen financial struggles, the mum-of-two headed straight for the foodbank. So when she realised her daughter had ordered herself and her three-year-old brother a Margherita pizza and was unable to pay, she didn't know what to do.

Luckily, the driver spoke to his boss at Pronto, their favourite Pizza restaurant in Colne, Lancashire, and reassured the tearful mum-of-two not to worry when she said she would find the money to pay it back. Just days later, the 32-year-old mum picked up a note through her window containing £40 from the delivery driver that said: "Here is something for you and your family. It's not much, but from my heart, that day it broke me. Hope your daughter enjoyed the pizza."

Francesca explained: "I heard the door go and when I answered it I said 'I've not ordered a pizza. They were saying, 'You have, it's definitely for you' and my daughter was stood behind me. I looked at her and she was crying. She said 'Mum, I've ordered it I'm sorry'. We normally get delivery after we've come back from holiday, but I hadn't turned around to Ella to tell her we were struggling.

"I wouldn't want to put my financial situation on the kids. Normally I'd have paid for the pizza and told her to just not do it again but I couldn't even do that, I was so broke. I was just crying to the delivery man, I was in floods of tears saying 'I'm so sorry'. That's how broke we were."

As she begged for the pizza to be returned, the delivery driver managed to call the owner and explained the situation that Francesca would scrape the money together by the next day as she cried and promised she wasn't going to rip them off. He told her not to worry and left the pizza with her, and a few days later came across the note.

She added: "I was crying my eyes out [on the phone]. I said 'I'm not gonna rip you off' and promised I'd get them £20 tomorrow. The delivery man gave me a hug and said 'Don't worry about it, I've got problems as well' then left. Our letterbox doesn't work, but I'd left the living room window open on Monday.

"I saw a note on the windowsill and it said: 'To Mummy and family'. I opened it and I just cried. My daughter cried too. I just couldn't believe it. It was so kind. It's mad, I've never had anyone do that for me before. I think he's even sorted the pizza out because they've not been back for my money. I think he's been in and said don't charge them for the pizza."

Francesca, who is studying psychology at the Open University, has tracked down the anonymous and met up with him to express her gratitude as he said it "touched his heart" when he saw Francesca's daughter crying like that, and admitted that he's in a difficult situation himself.

Pronto Pizza has been contacted for comment

so many things wrong with this story I just cant even process