Rolex watch found in drain is claimed

A £21,000 gold Rolex watch found in a drain by a street cleaner has been claimed by its owner.

Arron Large, 28, was cleaning a drain near Chalkwell railway station in Essex earlier this month when he found the watch among the dirt.

He handed it in at his nearest police station but it had not been registered lost or stolen. If it had not been claimed, he would have been allowed to keep it.

Today Essex Police said the owner had come forward to claim the yellow gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph from the Daytona collection.

The watch was stolen from a nearby house in a burglary in September.

It had huge sentimental value for its owner, as it was a gift from his wife who has since died.

The owner, who is in his fifties and did not want to be named, has thanked Mr Large and given him a reward for his "integrity and honesty".

Pc Calley Mackay said: "Arron made a really unusual find and had the decency and integrity to hand the Rolex watch in to police.

"Our aim from the start was to locate the owner of this Rolex watch and we are now delighted to have been able to return it to its rightful owner.

"This man was the victim of a burglary, who actually came home to find that his house had been ransacked and his possessions were stolen by the burglar, who fled from the scene."

She added: "Arron's lucky streak continued, as he found three more watches hidden in drains in the following days.

"These three watches are all now confirmed as replicas, of nominal value."

PA