Man reunited with ring after volunteers drain lake

A man has described the "miracle" moment he was reunited with his lost wedding ring after it was found during a lake drain.

Oli Foster, 42, hired a professional ring finder after his wedding ring slipped off his finger and into the water at Clevedon marine lake last June but they failed to find it.

Nine months on and volunteers draining the lake in North Somerset have found the engraved ring and managed to track down Foster after posting an image on Facebook.

"He turned up and there was a Cinderella moment when he slipped it onto his finger and it was the perfect fit," said Tim Clouter, a trustee of the lake in charge of maintenance.

Around 60 volunteers helped to clean the lake on Wednesday which is drained every six months for its silt removal.

"Every tide brings in 8mm of mud," said Clouter.

"If we just let it stay there the lake would fill up and it would only be a few feet deep."

Last year the lake was cleared of pants, paddles and goggles.

Clouter said they do find rings during lake drains but it is rare for them to track down the owner.

"We posted it on Facebook and said we found a ring, it's engraved with the word Emma," Clouter said.

"We said you can have it if you give us the right date."

Foster came across the post on the Marlens volunteer group Facebook page after joining last year when he lost his ring.

"All these months, it was like a part of me was missing," Foster said.

"The birth of our kids, all the things we've done, the ring was the link to all of those things.

"I was absolutely amazed, it was literally a miracle to be told it had been found."

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