A family have been reunited with a loved ragdoll after it was thought to be lost for about a month.

Leanne Smith was walking into town with her two girls, Beatrix and Hermione, in late July when she realised that four-year-old Beatrix’s doll Rosie was missing.

Mrs Smith said: “I got to Gray Palmers to pick up Beatrix’s school uniform and I realised Rosie was missing. I knew we had her at Debden Road so I called Richard, who had left about 10 minutes after us to look out for Rosie thinking someone would have put her at the side of the pavement, but he couldn’t find her.

“I think we gave Rosie to Hermione and she threw it out of her pram as we walked into town.”

Mr Smith added: “We were distraught as it was the first present we bought Beatrix. She was a couple of months old when we were in Cambridge and saw it in Cath Kidston and bought it for her as they both had red hair.”

The couple came into the Saffron Walden Reporter office afterwards and asked if anyone had handed Rosie in, but unfortunately they hadn’t.

The weeks rolled on but there was still no sign of Rosie.

That was until Friday, when John Parker, of Debden Road, came into our office with a ragdoll he had picked up on the street. He had tried to catch up with Mrs Smith, but lost the family through the town.

Immediately reporter Michael Steward rang a delighted Mrs Smith and Rosie was reunited with Beatrix within hours.

Mrs Smith told the Reporter: “We tried looking for a similar doll and ordered one off the internet but it just wasn’t the same for Beatrix so she is very happy to have her real Rosie back.”

Mr Smith added: “We’d like to send a massive thank you to the gentleman who picked her up and dropped her off to the Reporter. It means a lot to our whole family.”

Content Editor Hywel Barrett said: “We were delighted to reunite Rosie with Beatrix. As soon as Mr Parker came into the office, we knew who it belonged to and found the family’s phone number and told them the great news.”

When asked if Beatrix would let her 14-month-old sister play with her dolls again, she said: “Yes”.