Hampshire binmen save iPhone after rubbish error

A man from Hampshire has thanked binmen for rummaging through tonnes of rubbish to find his £500 iPhone after his partner threw it away by mistake.

Rob Wright quickly contacted Fareham council after the bin was emptied from his home in Beacon Way, Park Gate.

The authority put him in contact with its contractors and the lorry was diverted to be sorted by hand.

Staff picked through about seven tonnes of recycling before they found the phone, which still worked.

Mr Wright, 40, a local carpenter, praised workers at Veolia Environmental Services.

"I want to say a massive thank you to the guys who managed to find the phone," he said.

"They do such a great job and it was just incredible that they found it.

"On the phone there are lots of photos that we wouldn't have been able to replace."

A Veolia spokeswoman said: "Normally, the recycling would be sorted by a combination of machinery and hand-picking - it's unlikely Rob's phone would have survived this."

Darren Carling, Veolia's recycling site manager, said: "We're glad we could help Rob out and reunite him with his phone.

"Dealing with hundreds of tonnes of recycling each week means that, normally, this sort of find just wouldn't be possible."