AN off-duty police officer and his trusty metal detector came to the rescue when a distraught woman lost her diamond engagement ring on the riverbank at a North-East beauty spot.

Metal detecting enthusiast PC Derek Sirett was called in after a two-hour search of the reed beds alongside the River Wear in Durham City proved fruitless, and within ten minutes, it was found.

The 30-year-old woman, who has asked not to be identified, was out walking with her husband and six sons on Sunday afternoon near the former boathouse at Elvet Bridge.

As the day was warm and her engagement ring was becoming uncomfortable, she removed it from her finger, but was horrified when it slipped from her grasp and fell into dense vegetation at the side of the river.

After an increasingly frantic fingertip search by the family drew a blank, she called Durham Police, where control room staff alerted PC Sirett.

Despite being on leave, the officer, based in Stanley, County Durham, went down to the riverside armed with his new £800 metal detector. Within minutes he had found the ring buried a few inches in the mud.

He said: "The standard issue metal detectors are not sensitive enough for this kind of work.

"We found an old penny and then a ring pull from a drinks can, but the third signal turned out to be the ring itself"

The relieved owner plans to write to the chief constable to express her thanks.

Last summer, PC Sirett came to the rescue of a Consett man who had lost his wedding ring while planting bushes in his garden, and several years ago he performed similar heroics for a woman.

Over the years, the 39-year-old officer, who joined the Durham force 13 years ago after serving with the Metropolitan Police, has unearthed quite a haul with his metal detector, including a Richard III groat coin and a Celtic bracelet.