Owner reunited with 30-year-old love letter stolen in bag

The couple married in 2003 after being together for many years

A love letter that was feared lost when an 84-year-old woman had her bag stolen in a Dorset supermarket has been found.

The woman, who asked to be known only as Cathy, made an appeal after the bag containing the 30-year-old letter from her late husband, Nigel, was taken in Waitrose in Christchurch.

The bag was eventually handed to police after being found near the priory.

Cathy said she was "over the moon" and read the letter again before even leaving the police station.

Also in the bag were her husband's birth certificate and passport, their marriage certificate, £200, her purse and other personal items.

She said: "When I heard they had found the bag, I couldn't get there quick enough.

"I looked inside and everything was there apart from the money. The money wasn't important to me, I just desperately wanted to get the letter back."

The couple were together for many years before getting married in June 2003.

Nigel died from cancer in March 2014, aged 74.

Dorset Police has appealed for information about the theft on 11 September and how the bag ended up near Christchurch Priory.