A NEW group set up last year to feed the enthusiasm of those in Launceston who love metal detecting, is now looking to spread the word about their free service offered to local people.

In 2017, a bunch of enthusiastic people that loved metal detecting got together, forming the Launceston Detectorists group. A few months ago, the group began offering a free service to local people, which involved searching for lost metal items such as jewellery.

Earlier this year, the group was told by a lady that she had lost her wedding ring in a little haystack. The group’s treasurer David Buxton went out and spent some time with her, eventually managing to locate the ring for her.

More recently, a lady lost her car keys at Coronation Park. David and chairman of the group, Rik Jones, spent three hours in the rain and dark trying to locate the keys to no avail. As it were, someone had found them and handed them into the leisure centre.

Just recently, the group heard from a man from North Petherwin. Robin Jennings lost his wedding ring after surfing at Widemouth Bay. In fact, he had lost the ring ten days before contacting the group, as he did not know about them. The group searched his yard for the ring for about an hour, but there was no luck. So Rik, David and Robin drove to the grass verge opposite Black Rock Café where they proceeded to look for some time.

After about an hour of looking, Rik thought the only way they may find the ring would be to get on their hands and knees with a small pin-pointer. Within about another 20 minutes, Rik found a ring, and to Robin’s delight, it was the ring he was looking for.

Rik said: “I have never seen a person so happy as he was. The satisfaction of finding the ring and it being back where it belonged was fantastic.”

The group is hoping to help more and more people find their precious belongings. They do not charge, but always welcome a donation to the club. To ask for their assistance, call 07825 156 123.

For those who would be interested in joining the Launceston Detectorists, the club meets on the first Monday of each month. Find them on Facebook.