AN EMAIL from a seven-year-old Highworth boy asking for a replacement toy after he lost his in a supermarket has gone viral.

The email exchange between Luka Apps and LEGO has tugged on the heartstrings of thousands around the world.

The Southfields School pupil wrote an email to the company after he saved up all his Christmas money to buy a special set of LEGO, the Ninjago kit of the Ultrasonic Raider, then lost one of the figures.

He took the tiny figurine with him on a shopping trip to Sainsbury’s, against his dad Simon’s advice, and ended up losing the character called Jay ZX.

In a desperate bid to replace it, Luka and his dad emailed the toy company to see if there was anything they could do. They did not expect to hear anything back, but were amazed with the reply they received, which Simon put on Twitter and has now been read by thousands.

“He lost the character in the supermarket after being told not to take it,” said Simon, who is the MD of photography firm Professional Images. “So we decided to send LEGO a letter and he dictated it into my MacBook.

“I didn’t expect to hear anything back, but on Sunday we received this email from Richard at LEGO. You start reading the beginning of it, and it does not sound promising but then you can just sense their hearts melting. Luka was jumping for joy when he read it.”

LEGO agreed to send a replacement figure and gave him extra gifts – as long as Luka promised to leave them at home in the future.

The reply from the toy company even included a message from Sensei Wu, a Lego character and Ninjago Master.

Simon decided to put the email exchange on Twitter, and in the past few days it has been retweeted several thousand times and has trended in the UK and Australia.

Simon said he was impressed with LEGO’s customer service, and that it should send a message to other companies. “When I last looked, it had been retweeted more than 1,100 times and was still going,” he said. “Luka has seen it re-tweeted in Sweden, Norway and Australia, and I have shown him on a map where it has been seen.

“The way LEGO has handled the whole thing, and the time taken to come up with the response, really impressed me.

“This should show other companies how to handle their customer services.”

Email from Luka to LEGO

Hello, my name is Luka Apps and I am seven years old.

With all my money I got for Christmas I bought the Ninjago kit of the Ultrasonic Raider. The number is 9449. It is really good.

My Daddy just took me to Sainsburys and told me to leave the people at home but I took them and I lost Jay ZX at the shop as it fell out of my coat.

I am really upset I have lost him. Daddy said to send you a email to see if you will send me another one.

I promise I won't take him to the shop again if you can. Thank you.

Email reply from Richard at LEGO consumer services:

Thanks for sending us an email. We are very sorry to hear about you losing your Jay minifigure but it sounds like your dad might have been right about leaving it at home. It sounds like you a very sad about it too.

Normally we would ask that you pay for a new one if you lose one of your minifigures and need to have it replaced.

My bosses told me I could not send you one out for free because you lost it but, I decided that I would put a call into Sensei Wu to see if he could help me.

Luka, I told Sensei Wu that losing your Jay minifigure was purely an accident and that you would never ever ever let it happen ever again. He told me to tell you, “Luka, your father seems like a very wise man. You must always protect your Ninjago minifigures like the dragons protect the Weapons of Spinjitzu!”

Sensei Wu also told me it was okay if I sent you a new Jay and told me it would be okay if I included something extra for you because anyone that saves their Christmas money to buy the Ultrasonic Raider must be a really big Ninjago fan.

So, I hope you enjoy your Jay minifigure with all his weapons. You will actually have the only Jay minifigure that combines 3 different Jays into one! I am also going to send you a bad guy for him to fight!

Just remember, what Sensei Wu said: keep your minifigures protected like the Weapons of Spinjitzu! And of course, always listen to your dad.

You will see an envelope from LEGO with your new minifigures. Please take good care of them, Luka.

Remember that you promised to always leave them at home.