A COMMUNITY'S efforts to track down two 'stolen' planters came to a happy end thanks to a chance meeting involving the Radcliffe Times.

Members of the Withins Community Association had been left devastated after two new planters disappeared from the banks of Withins goit, less than 24 hours after they were installed on March 12.

The group launched an appeal for the items to be returned after local residents had put in years of hard work to improve the area.

But as they were posing by the bridge in Lynton Lee for a picture with a Radcliffe Times photographer on Wednesday, March 16, nearby neighbour Martin Leggat spotted them and revealed he had taken in the missing pots on Saturday night.

The 51-year-old, of Withins Lane, thought the planters had been abandoned on the side of the goit after being stolen and decided to look after them until he could track down their owner.

He said: "I saw the planters in the street on Saturday night and wanted to make sure they weren't taken. I had been asking people if they knew who they belonged to or had seen anything going on on Saturday, but nobody knew where they came from.

"I live opposite the goit and there has been a lot of stuff taken from people's gardens around here over the years, some of it quite expensive.

"They were in my van until Wednesday morning when I saw there was a group of people outside with a photographer and a sign asking for the planters to be brought back. It was very strange, they went from thinking I was a thief to thinking I was a hero very quickly.

"After talking with them and hearing how they wouldn't have had the money to buy any replacement planters, I'm going to make a £100 donation to help fund another one and brighten up the area."

The planters had been funded by a £250 grant from Radcliffe Township Forum's community fund and sowed with wild flower seeds that had been successfully acquired through Grow Wild.

Gillian Stainthorpe, the association's secretary, said: "He seems to have seen them there on the evening and thought someone had dumped them on the side of the goit after stealing them. He realised they were new and so took them into protective custody.

"It was only when he saw the notice we put up before the photographer came and saw us having our photos taken that he realised who they belonged to. I must say, if we hadn't been having our photographs taken we may never have been reunited as easily.

"One of the positive outcomes may be that we get an extra volunteer for the future as well as the donation."