Two schoolgirls are £1,200 richer after piecing together hundreds of shredded bank notes found blowing in the wind.

It was a year ago when the girls made headlines round the world after The Argus told of their amazing find.

The Brighton girls Brighton have spent the past 12 months painstakingly sticking notes together and so far they've come up with £1,200.

They reckon they are about halfway through the huge pile of money scraps.

Rachel Aumann and Maisie Balley, both 12, were on their way to school when they spotted confetti-like pieces of paper swirling across the street.

They traced the flurry to a rubbish bin, looked inside and found a plastic bag overflowing with shredded bank notes.

Their school contacted police who checked with the Bank of England and they confirmed the money was real.

All the girls had to do was piece serial numbers together and the money was theirs.

Rachel, who attends Dorothy Stringer School and Maisie, who goes to Varndean, said they will carry on with their giant jigsaw for a few more months before sending completed notes to the Bank of England for replacing.

They have had a little help from Rachel's stepfather Peter Goodall, who the girls have agreed to pay ten per cent of their proceeds.

Mr Goodall, 41, has spent half-an-hour a day for weeks looking for matches: "I've enjoyed it but won't earn much. I'll get less than the minimum wage."

The girls think they'll end up with about £2,000.

Rachel, who wants to be a singer, will save half her share for university and Maisie, planning on a career as a beautician, wants to blow a large sum on a shopping expedition in London.

There is still no clue as to where the money came from or why it was torn up.

Maisie said: "It might have been an old lady who decided she wasn't going to leave it to anyone before she died."

Rachel said: "It could have been a divorce - one didn't want the other to have it."

The girls' find made headlines in newspapers as far away as Australia and radio reports went round the world after The Argus first published the story.

Rachel said: "We sometimes get recognised on buses and people say: 'You're the girls who found that money'.

"And one of my teachers joked: 'Will you take me on holiday with you?'

"I still find it strange we found it - loads of people must have walked past the rubbish bin before we got there."

The girls have enjoyed their moment of fame but Maisie confessed: "I've got a bit bored telling the same story over and over again.

"I should just carry a copy of The Argus round with me and ask them to read it."