The Herald ran an appeal to return the ring to its owner - and it worked!

A sentimental ring has been returned to its owner in pristine condition after it was discovered in a road a month after it went missing.

The Herald ran a story on May 30 asking for help to find the piece of jewellery which was lost during a shopping trip in Sidmouth.

The owner, who did not wished to be named, only realised when she returned home her grandmother's engagement ring was gone.

She believed she had lost the ring between a visit to Tesco and Potburys Funeral Service and offered a small reward for its return.

To try and trace it, she hired a detectorist to use a metal detector near her home and also turned over the house, but to no avail.

This week, a good Samaritan responded to the appeal after spotting the ring in the road outside of the Factory Shop on Saturday morning [June 8] - a month after it was first reported missing.

The man, who wished not to be named, said: "I stepped off the pavement and there in the road was the ring about a foot in from the pavement.

"I thought somebody has lost a ring and because it was raining I put it in my pocket and didn't think about it until the next morning.

"I told my wife I had found a ring down in the town and she looked at it and said 'that's a valuable ring.' Then we remembered seeing the ring in the paper."

He contacted the Herald on Monday morning to arrange returning the ring.

He added: "And they all lived happily ever after."

He received a reward for returning the ring but said the money would be put towards the purchase of rose trees for a children's charity his wife worked with.

The owner told the Herald: "When I realised it was missing I rushed straight out and did not see it. I knew I was going to get it back, I knew I was going to find it. I prayed to St Anthony, the saint of lost things. I cannot believe it. It's such a lovely ring it was my grandmother's engagement ring. I cannot thank the gentleman enough, I have not lost faith in human nature that people do not steal.

"Every drawer in this house has been turned upside down. It has not been bent, it is in pristine condition.

"I shall be checking it every two minutes now. I have always admired it and loved it. It has consumed every moment and has niggled at me."