15266/2THE MAYOR of Trowbridge is cele- brating after her husband's wedding ring, lost nearly 20 years ago, was discovered just yards from their back garden.

Cllr Grace Hill, 63, said finding the ring in a field at the rear of their Bradford Road home had been nothing short of a miracle.

Tom Hill, 71, lost his wedding ring while gardening in 1984.

Believing it had fallen into a pile of garden waste and thrown out with the rubbish for good, he gave up hope of seeing it again.

But 20 years on and a stray ball, thrown into Stallards park by one of the couple's grandchildren on Saturday afternoon, led to the startling discovery.

Mr Hill said: "As I was fetching the ball I looked down and something was glinting back at me. I couldn't believe it.

"It was messy and pitted, which made me think it must have been there for some time. But when I showed it to Grace she knew immediately it was mine.

"I know when I lost it. We were busy gardening and there was so much rubbish.

"Rather than bin it all I threw some of it over the fence and I believe the ring must have come off then. We redug the garden to try and find it."

When the couple married in 1959 in Skegness they could only afford one ring.

Moving to Trowbridge 21 years later, Cllr Hill decided to buy her husband a ring as a surprise.

"This is really quite extraordinary. I was upset when he lost it so when he found it again I was staggered and very excited," she said.

"It never did fit properly so I think it is time to get it altered."