Stranger reunites newly-wed with ring lost at Gower beach after six hour search

A newly-wed man has been reunited with his wedding ring after losing it in the sea just two days after tying the knot.

Robin Gemmell, from Oxford, was swimming in Caswell Bay following a "perfect" day marrying the love of his life, Hayley, in the Gower, when he felt his wedding band slip off his finger and fall into the water.

Robin immediately dived under in a desperate attempt to find it, scouring the area he had been swimming, but he was unable to locate it.

Despair began to set in as he believed it was gone forever.

But all was not lost, as a hero in the shape of Caswell resident Tony Ballentine stepped in to help the couple.

Amazingly, he was able to reunite Robin with his wedding ring just a few days later.

Tony Ballentine, 59, has been a keen metal detectorist since the age of 10 and has a history of finding things.

"I've always liked finding things," he explained.

"As a kid I liked fossil-hunting - the natural progression from this was metal detecting."The Caswell resident has found countless items over the years, including coins dating back to the Roman era and several bullets.

As a history fan, Tony likes to think about the story for every item he finds - but one of the things he finds most rewarding is returning lost items to their owners. He has reunited four other people with their wedding rings in recent years and so rose to the occasion to help a fifth.

It took Tony just six hours searching Caswell Bay to find Robin's ring.

Explaining how he was able to find it, Tony said: "I was on the beach metal-detecting and came across another metal detectorist [who I didn't know at the time]. He, Andrew Phillips, told me he'd been contacted by a guy who had lost his wedding ring in the sea.

"He said he'd unfortunately not been able to find it, but told me the rough area where to look so I thought I'd try and help.

"I did three two-hour stints - it's something I enjoy, I don't see it as a chore! I worked in a grid-formation, backwards and forwards. Eventually, I found it - it was about four inches deep in the sand.

"I didn't know who it belonged to, so I put some posts on social media and Tony's auntie, who lives locally, saw it and got in touch with me."

Praising Tony for volunteering hours of his time to search for his ring, Robin said: "A metal detectorist managed to find the ring and returned it. This is the fifth ring he's reunited with its owner.

"He's a very decent man and just wants to make people happy - he certainly made me happy and I'm incredibly relieved to have my ring back!"

Robin said he would also like to thank the metal detectorist Andrew Phillips for his efforts to try and find his ring, and his aunt and members of the Gower community who connected him with Tony via social media.

Robin is looking to get his precious ring re-sized to avoid losing it again.