POLICE officers have returned a village sign, thought to have been stolen, to its rightful owners.

A local man spotted the Breamore sign for sale on the popular auction website eBay and reported it to the police.

PC Alex Willson and PCSO Jim Hordle from the Fordingbridge Safer Neighbourhoods team got in touch with the seller from Burnham on Sea in Somerset, through Avon and Somerset Police.

The seller had no idea that the sign had originally been stolen and had bought it legitimately from an auction in Somerset. He was happy to hand the sign over once he heard it was thought to have been stolen from the village.

PCSO Jim Hordle attended a Breamore Parish Council meeting last week to hand the sign back to the local parish councillors.

Chairman of the Breamore Parish Council, Peter Turner, said: "We would like to thank the local officers for their efforts in tracking down the sign and returning it to the village.

"We greatly appreciate the efforts of PC Alex Willson, who regularly comes along to our parish council meetings and makes himself available to the community."

Sergeant Phil Raymond, from the Fordingbridge Safer Neighbourhoods team, said: "This is an excellent example of the local Safer Neighbourhoods officers working closely with the community and our partners at the parish council to address local issues.

"The Fordingbridge Safer Neighbourhoods team is committed to delivering an excellent service to the town and each of the surrounding villages and we will continue to maintain a close relationship with the parish councils, and the wider community, to listen to what matters to people locally."