A METAL detector came to the rescue of a woman who lost her engagement ring in a farm bin.

Adam Richards usually spends time trawling for Medieval artefacts in Denbighshire and Wrexham with his colleagues at the Historical Search Society of Mold.

But he answered the call of the stricken wife after reading on Facebook how her ring had gone missing during a visit to a livery yard in Marchwiel.

Adam, from Garth near Trevor, deployed his expertise, and only needed 10 minutes to locate the ring which was buried a foot deep in a compacted horse feed bin.

“I think the lady is a horse owner and she was at the yard on a very cold day last week when her ring must have fallen loose and slipped off,” said Adam, 33.

The Leader:

Metal detectorist Adam Richards

“It was only lost for a few hours, but she was very grateful and I was pleased to help her out.

“One of my old teachers saw a post on the Coedpoeth community Facebook page and tagged me into it as she knew I was a metal detector.”

Adam says the woman who has been reunited with her ring prefers to remain anonymous, but he adds that a finder’s reward was the last thing on his mind.

“I wouldn’t have accepted one anyway.

The Leader:

Adam with the engagement ring

“Metal detecting can sometimes get a bad press as there have been stories of some groups not declaring treasure finds and being taken to court,” said the hobbyist.

“That gives us all a bad name, but this sort of thing shows the good side to the hobby, helping someone find a really treasured item that they will truly miss.”

Adam is open to similar requests for help to find missing “modern” items.

He says it will offer some variety to his searches as he is usually in pursuit of the ancient and historic.

In recent years he has unearthed several Roman brooches and some silver hammered coins dating from the late 1500s.