TWO young anglers reeled in an array of unusual objects when they went magnet fishing in a Pinehurst stream and reunited a lost locket with its owners.

Joshua and Liam Bristow enjoyed trying out their new hobby and discovered all sorts of things hiding underwater - including three empty safes.

Swindon Advertiser:

Some of the items found by magnet fishing

Joshua, 10, said: "I got a magnet for my birthday then my grandad taught us how to go magnet fishing, we go in the stream by our house once a week.

"It's really fun because you can find stuff that you don't normally, it's really exciting and we wonder how long it's been there.

"The magnet needs to land directly on top of something for it to pick it up so you have to throw it right."

Swindon Advertiser:

The brothers, 10 and 7, later picked up a locket as it floated downstream in the shallows and got to work locating its owners with the help of their mum Jade Bennett.

She said: “It wasn’t damaged or dirty and the photos were still in it. They brought it in saying they found something 'spooky'. I put a post up on facebook about it which had 400 shares in a couple of hours.

“Later that evening, I got a message from a lady saying it was her relatives in the locket photo and sent proof, then they came over – it was her mum in the picture.

Swindon Advertiser:

“It had apparently been stolen in a burglary in September in Cheney Manor so she was really happy to have it back, it was very old and very sentimental.

"It was so bizarre to think it had been in the stream all that time. The boys were really excited and surprised that we’d found the owners, they each got £5 as a thank-you from the lady so they were happy.

Joshua added: "It felt good to find the owners because they'd got something back that had been missing."

The Advertiser would like to get in touch with the owners of the locket and talk to them about this remarkable reunion. If you happen to be reading this, please give us a call on 01793 501734.