A treasured wedding ring, thought to be lost forever, has been found by a metal detectorist searching a field in Lezayre.

Jason Crowe said farmer Neil Stoutt had joked about recovering the ring which was lost by his sister almost 30 years ago as they harvested potatoes.

But remarkably, just 20 minutes later, the ring appeared out of the mud, even though Jason, from Jurby, had no clear idea where it was lost and was not searching secifically for it.

’It was bizarre,’ he said.

’I’d never been there before and the farmer just mentioned there could be a wedding ring in one of the fields, but it really was a needle in a haystack because it’s such a huge area.

’I suddenly got a really strong signal. The field was waterlogged and I nearly decided to ignore it. Then I moved a sod of earth and there it was, about 10 inches down. I just looked at it and said ’’No way’’.’

Jason, who works in off-shore investments, added Neil’s sister had been ’over the moon’ after receiving a photograph of the ring via social media, along with a message saying: ’I bet you didn’t think you would see this again.’

’Taking up metal detecting was a bit of a spontaneous decision as I was doing less sidecar racing,’ said Jason, whose uncle, Nick Crowe, was the sidecar TT lap record holder for some years.

Coincidentally, one of Jason’s fellow detectorists on the day was Gordon Graham, who last year found a mediaeval silver ring, later displayed in the Manx Museum.

’I got into this through Gordon and I seem to be on a bit of a streak at the moment,’ he said.

’I’ve found a few bits of silver but this is the first gold I’ve found. To find my first gold item and for it to be of such sentimental value for someone was brilliant.

’There was mention of a reward but just finding the ring is enough, particularly as the family was kind enough to let me use the land.’ Remarkably, the ring was preserved in good condition, as items can often be damaged over the years by ploughing or even fertiliser.

Encouraged by his success, Jason added: ’I’d like to put something in the museum, that’s my ambition now - but I’ve not completely ruled out more sidecar racing yet either.’