Welsh father 'accidentally threw out £300 of Christmas presents'

A Welsh father-of-three came close to ruining Christmas by accidentally throwing his family's presents in the rubbish.

Mike James of Cardiff mistook a black bin bag containing wrapping paper and gifts amounting to approximately £300 for garbage on Christmas Eve.

The 50-year-old faced a race against time to retrieve the bundle after being informed of his mistake by wife Beverly.

"I felt physically sick when I realised what I'd done and my wife was in tears," he told reporters.

Mike's bad luck continued when he discovered the tip containing his presents was closed for the holidays and a Cardiff Council security guard dispatched to let him in brought the wrong key.

"I ended up climbing the barrier anyway but at least I had permission to go inside," he said. "I recognised the bag I had thrown away, but I wasn't sure if I had separated the presents so I looked inside some others."

James was eventually able to retrieve his presents, having first rummaged through a refuse sack of soiled nappies.

Among the presents thrown out were tickets to the London 2012 Olympic Games, jewellery and cash.

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