A LAKE District landowner is seeking to reunite long-lost World War One medals with a soldier's descendants after they were found in a field.

Myles Sandys was alerted by a metal detectorist who discovered a service medal, a regimental medal and a cap badge belonging to Second Lieutenant George Clifford Garnett, on his 5,000 acre Graythwaite Hall estate near Sawrey.

2d Lt. Garnett - who lived at Sawrey at the time of signing up for the eighth battalion of the East Lancs regiment in 1914 - is believed to have distant relatives in Canada.

They have been contacted by Mr Sandys along with the East Lancashire Regiment museum in an attempt to reunite the medals with the family.

"What is interesting is that all three pieces were found scattered around a two acre field, but they were all initialled to the same person," said Mr Sandys. "I don't know how they got there.

"They have cleaned up very well. I contacted the East Lancashire Regiment museum and they helped me track the service records and ancestry and we found some family. We are waiting to hear back from them. I hope they will be pleased to see them."

In researching the ancestry of 2d Lt. Garnett, Dominic Butler, assistant curator of the East Lancashire Regiment museum, found that he had lived at the post office in Sawrey from 1911 with his wife, Lizzy, who was the sub-postmaster.

2d Lt. Garnett worked as an agent for Pearl Assurance Company before he signed up for the army in 1914, where he served with the regiment, primarily in France.

He was born in Leicestershire in either 1877 or 1888 and died in December 1950.

"This is a very unusual find," said Mr Butler. "We do not often find medals; more often it is badges. It is also quite rare to find medals of this rank, which adds to the value of them.

"We have found that 2d Lt. Garnett lived in Sawrey with his wife and mother-in-law before moving up to Ulverston.

"It appears that the medals could have been thrown away after they had moved, or that he had given them up for some reason. We will never know for sure.

"We would like to hope that the family would get back to us. People often have a connection to war medals. 2d Lt. Garnett never had any children. Perhaps these people in Canada, who are distant cousins, can help us find closer relatives."