Falkirk wife thanks Kinneil crew for finding her wedding ring in giant refuse skip

Those obstacles were nothing to the staff at Kinneil Kerse Recycling Centre as they dug deep to help a distraught wife recover her wedding ring and engagement ring, mistakenly discarded after a spot of household DIY.

Yesterday Pamela Norval (53) returned to the recycling centre, just outside Grangemouth, where she had lost her rings to thank the Kinneil gang for their amazing efforts.

She said: “The staff were incredible and so helpful and understanding – they took it all onboard instead of telling me there was no chance I was going to find the rings. I mean I don’t know how often something like this happens, but it was the first time it had happened to us.”

John Kirkhope, waste services co-ordinator said: “The team at Kinneil Kerse did a great job and went above and beyond to reunite the couple with their lost rings. A huge well done to everyone involved.”

Pamela’s horrific mistake dawned on Pamela on the way home from the recycling centre earlier this month.

She said: "We had been doing a bit of painting in the house and I took my rings off and wrapped them in some tissue. We were clearing up at the end of the day and putting things into black plastic bags.

“We got to the centre and emptied all the bags into the skip. On the way back home I looked down at my hands and saw i had not rings – then it all came back to me and I realised what must have happened.

“I just felt a totally sick, gut wrenching feeling for having done something so stupid.”

Pamela and husband of five years David (57) quickly checked if the rings were back at their Moncks Road, Falkirk home before hightailing it back to the recycling centre.

"The skip was half full when we dumped our rubbish and then three quarters full when we got back,” said Pamela. “I thought, there’s no chance of finding the rings in there. But for my own piece of mind we had to try and give it a chance.”

Pamela was able to tell the crew at Kinneil roughly which area in the skip she had dumped the rubbish and pointed out other items she had dumped, like masking tape and paint tins so they could narrow down their search.

The centre was closing for the day and the staff told Pamela they would put the skip aside and empty it by hand in the morning.

"They did warn us they had people throw things in by mistake before and they hadn’t managed to find those items. We thought there was no chance. Then we got a call later that morning – it was a bit of a drawn out conversation, so I was thinking they hadn’t managed to find the rings.

"They said ‘the boys had done their best but … they managed to find both your rings’. I just felt so happy for them as well, it must be rewarding to search for something so small and actually find it.”

The staff admitted they had actually found the wedding ring quite quickly and then located the engagement ring a minute or so later.

"That night my husband said we need to put a lottery ticket on while our luck lasts,” laughed Pamela.