IF you ever drop something valuable down a drain, it is important to remember that all is not lost.

A case in point is the instance of Yorkshire woman Linda Baines, who got her gold faceted wedding ring back after it rolled down to the murky depths.

Mrs Baines, of Langcliffe, near Settle, was chatting to her neighbour when, after gesturing with her hand, the ring flew off her finger and rolled down the drain.

Her husband Rob had damaged his back and was unable to lift the grate up.

Mrs Baines decided that her only option was to call David Stavely, Craven district councillor for the Settle and Ribblebanks Ward.

Cllr Stavely enlisted the help of Cllr Richard Welch and, after a couple of phone calls, the county council's highways contractor, Ringway, was despatched.

Gully operative Simon Mole said: "I looked down and I could see a ring glistening under the water in all the dirt.

"I lifted the gully frame out of the ground, put my hand in and picked it out."

According to Mr Mole, it had been one of his more unusual jobs.

"It's up there at the top, because I have never done that before," he said. "The only other thing I have pulled out of a gully is a £10 note."

Mr and Mrs Baines, both 70, met while at school in Lancashire and married in Garstang, near Preston, in 1967.

On the ring, Mrs Baines said: "It had been slack for a wee while," adding: "So I went straight down to the jewellers in Settle and she sent it away.

"It's perfect. It won't shoot off anymore."