A SOUTHAMPTON couple are appealing to help find the family who own the memorial plaque that was hidden beside the garage of their new home.

Emma Wright, 31, and her partner Simon White, 32, moved into their new home on Claremont Road around six months ago, and due to the lockdown restrictions giving them more free time, they decided to clear out their new garden and garage last weekend.

That's when they discovered a large brass memorial plaque hidden between the garage and their fence, surrounded by some metal piping.

The plaque reads "In loving memory of Daphne Mackie (1908-1997) and of her daughter Sally, who was buried here after a skiing accident), and Emma and her partner are keen to reunite the memorial plaque with the rightful family.

Emma said: "We were just putting stuff in the garage and having a clear out, when we found it wrapped up in a bunch of metal pipes and metal sheets. It certainly wasn't what we were expecting that's for sure!

"We were just going to scrap the metal but we couldn't just throw this away, we have to try and find the Mackie family and reunite them with the plaque.

"We are suspecting that it was stolen for the metal a while a go and hidden away but someone completely forgot about it. But we don't want to find the person who possibly committed the crime, we just want it back where it belongs, and that certainly isn't our garage! Who knows how long it's been in there for?"

After finding the plaque on Saturday May 23, the 31-year-old has since contacted the police, who are looking on their records for any stolen memorial plaques.

If anyone has any information or knows who the plaque belongs to, they can contact Emma by email at emmawright1989@hotmail.co.uk.