A VETERAN has had his war medals returned by a Herefordshire business nearly 40 years after they were stolen.

Keith Eamer was awarded the honours for his service in the Falklands and Northern Ireland, but they were taken from his car boot on his wedding day in 1984.

For years, Mr Eamer wore replica medals to ceremonies, which he said left him feeling like a fraud alongside his fellow veterans.

He said he had all but given up hope of finding them until a fellow veteran messaged to say he had seen that War and Son, a military antique dealer in Leominster, had posted them for sale online.

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The local company had bought the medals as part of a large collection from the widow of a man who had amassed a large collection over the course of 30 years.

They said that they quickly removed the items from their website once Mr Eamer got in contact and that they were happy to return the medals to their rightful owner.

Steve Nuwar, of War and Son, said: "The collector had British war medals all the way from Waterloo to Wireless Ridge.

"He had acquired Mr Eamer's medals about 30 years ago. They were being kept in ice-cream tubs.

"This is completely without precedent. We have helped families re-acquire medals that have gone missing over generations but we have never had anything happen like this, where the medals were stolen and returned to their original recipient."

Mr Eamer, from Gloucester, said: "At first, I wasn't even convinced that they were mine.

"I was in a state of shock when I was told they had been located. I had given up all hope of them being found.

“I wore the medals at my wedding at the parish church in Stone.

"The next day they were gone. Someone had broken into the car and stolen the medals, the uniform and other things from the boot. I was devastated.

"The theft has been on my mind all the time since it happened. Getting them back is the best Christmas present I'll ever have."