A mystery person has found and handed in an expensive diamond ring which was given to its owner in the same place it was lost a year before.

Alex Hollman, from Naphill, Buckinghamshire, was on holiday with her husband and two children in Winterton when the ring slipped from her finger at some point during the day.

The 48-year-old said the family had been to Great Yarmouth's Pleasure Beach on a particularly cold day during half term, and then headed to the beach when it got out a bit brighter.

She noticed the ring was missing as they walked to the pub in the evening, but had no recollection of how long it had been gone or where it had been lost.

The family turned the holiday cottage upside down and rang round everywhere they had been, but to no avail.

They even spoke to people sitting near where they had been on the beach in case they found it.

As a last ditch effort Mrs Hollman put a post on the village Facebook page just in case anyone came across it.

When they left for home she had given up all hope, but left a message with the cottage's owner.

However, just a few days later she was stunned to receive a call saying it had been handed in to the car park attendant on Beach Road after it was found on the sands.

"Needle in a haystack does not even come close," Mrs Hollman said.

"It came by special delivery and still had grains of sand in it.

"It's a very expensive ring with nine diamonds. The honesty is just mind-blowing.

"I just cried. When I lost it the whole of the next day I was really low and I had to have a word with myself. My husband was very pragmatic about it saying it was insured.

"I am not normally bothered about material things. But it was given to me while we were staying in Winterton which is somewhere we hold in our hearts, and it would have tainted that if I hadn't got it back.

"Now it just strengthens the bond and has even more meaning."

Mrs Hollman would love to trace the finder and thank them herself. Contact liz.coates@archant.co.uk to get in touch.