This is the heartwarming moment good Samaritans collected money in paper bags after a car loaded with it collided with a sweeper lorry on the motorway and spilt it on the road.

Smartphone footage recorded on the G4 Beijing–Hong Kong and Macau Expressway, in China, shows passersby picking up thousands of banknotes on January 4.

The passing drivers and passengers reportedly jumped out of their cars after having witnessed the incident and rushed to pick the money up to return it to the owner.

Chinese media revealed that the car, reportedly a sedan, struck the lorry while travelling northward from the south, resulting in damage to the vehicle's left side, including its body and windows.

The driver, according to reports, suffered a head injury, prompting more than 120 emergency staff to arrive at the scene. He was later brought to the hospital.

The money was reportedly intended to be paid out to a group of workers before the end of the year. After it was collected, it was secured by police until the owner recovered.

A man identified only as Mr Li, from the city of Anyang, in China's Henan Province, who was one of those who helped collect the scattered banknotes, said that the incident occurred around 9:40 am.

Li added: 'The car rolled over in front of our car, and the driver immediately took emergency measures to pull over, and everyone rescued the people involved as soon as possible.

'At that time, there were two people in the car, the driver was in a coma with a head injury, and the guy in the back seat was conscious, I went out with my companion to save the guy, and I called the police at 9:52 am.

'We then started to help the owner pick up cash, and I helped the owner pick up hundreds of thousands, as well as a folding mobile phone, all of which were returned to the original owner.

'After us, a lot of cars were parked one after another, and many people came down to help, and they were all from Hebei and Henan.'

Another witness, named only as Ms Wang, said: 'After seeing the car accident, I quickly stepped forward to help pick it up.

'After picking them up, we returned them all to their owners. There were about a dozen people at the scene helping to pick it up, there were about hundreds of thousands in cash. Four large bags of them!'