A woman who mistakenly threw out her engagement ring in the rubbish has been reunited with it after the council's refuse service lent her a hand.

The owner, who lives in Ramsden Road, Balham, threw her out the item of jewellery last Tuesday but realised what she had done soon afterwards.

She contacted Wandsworth Council's waste management team who, with the help of the refuse contractor Biffa, pinpointed the precise refuse lorry that picked up her rubbish.

The lorry was stopped before it was emptied at the waste transfer station in Smuggler's Way and diverted off to a loading bay where the sacks were unloaded.

The woman was then able to sift through the binliners until she found her own one and as a result was able to recover the lost ring.

Jo Shearer, area waste manager, said: "It was a real race against time because as soon as she called us to tell us what had happened, we had to identify the refuse lorry and then get hold of its crew before it had a chance to unload at the transfer station.

"If they'd unloaded before we managed to contact them then there really would have been no chance of finding it - so we were very lucky to catch up with them in the nick of time.

"She was absolutely overjoyed when she managed to find it. It was a very happy ending to what would otherwise have been a sad story.

"Losing any ring, but especially one as important as an engagement ring, would be a blow to any woman, so I'm really delighted she was able to find it."