AN ‘INCREDIBLY grateful' burglary victim has been reunited with treasured family jewellery that had been stolen from her home.

The woman’s house in Southampton was burgled in August 2014 after criminals forced the front door open and stole cufflinks, rings, earrings, necklaces, and electronic equipment.

The jewellery was irreplaceable and the 36-year-old victim was devastated when it was taken.

But yesterday her prayers were answered when her husband’s cufflinks and a necklace given to her by her late grandmother were returned.

A member of the public discovered a bag full of jewellery in a wooded area in Hedge End and handed them in to the police.

The victim said: “It was such a shock after such a long time.

“To be reunited with my Nan’s necklace is just wonderful. When it was stolen, it felt like I had to go through the loss of her all over again.

“She passed away a year before we were burgled and she gave me this necklace.

“It was my tangible link to the past and when it had been taken it was devastating.

“My husband is incredibly pleased to have his cuff links back as they were a gift to him on our wedding day and they are engraved.

“We can’t thank the person that found them enough.

They could have walked on by and ignored it but they didn’t.

“We are incredibly grateful.”

Police Staff Investigator Helen Mills said: “Returning stolen property to rightful owners not only provides great victim satisfaction, it assists officers with gathering evidence to charge offenders.

“There is nothing more rewarding than returning an item of property that means the world to someone by asking them is this yours?”

If you have been a victim of burglary, log onto our "Is this yours?" page on our police Flickr account.