SEAN Flood was baffled when he lost £700 on a drunken night out - but he now believes a cheeky postcard could solve the mystery of the missing cash.

A man claiming to be a cabbie who took him home at the end of the night has sent Sean a card from the Canary Islands saying - thanks for the tip.

The message reads: "Having lovely time, the weather here is very hot and my many children are having a lovely time. Thank you so much for all your generosity."

Sean, a 30-year-old property developer, thought he had lost the money in a bar during the Christmas pub crawl in South-ampton two months ago.

But the postcard, which arrived this week from Gran Canaria, has convinced him that a taxi driver took the cash and now wants to add insult to injury.

Sean said: "I can't believe the cheek of the guy. It's bad enough ripping me off, but to rub my nose in it is despicable."

The father-of-two had withdrawn £1,000 from a bank on the night to entertain staff from his London Road offices, and to pay two sub- contractors for work they had carried out for him.

The group visited a restaurant and several pubs in Bedford Place before moving on to a friend's flat.

Mr Flood said: "By the end of it I was so inebriated that they called me a taxi and bundled me in.

"I should have had about £700 on me because the two men I was supposed to have paid didn't turn up. But I couldn't find it the next day.

"I didn't really expect anyone to hand it in and to a certain extent I blame myself for carrying around such a lot of money.

"Everyone I've shown the card to has almost died laughing. The taxi driver probably thinks he's being clever but I'm sure someone must know who he is."

Sean dismisses any speculation that the card could be just a mischievous prank by a friend, and has offered a £50 reward to anyone who helps bring the mystery cabbie to justice.

He has passed all the information to the police, including the name of the taxi firm he believes took him home.

A police spokesman said: "A report has been received in relation to the loss and we're looking into it.

"We would be pleased to hear from any witnesses." Anyone with information is asked to call Southampton Central on 01703 335444.

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