A PENSIONER has been reunited with more than 100 pocket watches that were stolen from his Banbury home.

The 115 pocket watch collection was stolen from horologist Henry Peverill, 72, back in March 2014, but thanks to a UV postcode mark on one watch police have finally been able to return them to their rightful owner.

The collection turned up four days after the burglary, when the antiques were seized by Coventry Police at a pawnbrokers.

A 29-year-old man had tried to sell the stash on at Cash Converters, which raised suspicions with staff who notified police.

Police had been working to trace the collection back to its owner but were drawing a blank.

It was only when they spotted a faint UV marked postcode written on the back of one watch that officers were able to trace the collection back to Mr Peverill.

PC James Rees said: “It is always incredibly satisfying to return stolen items to where they belong, especially when they are irreplaceable and embody so much sentiment and memory as these watches do. Mr Peverill had understandably given up all hope of ever seeing them again so it was great to hand them over."

The valuables were returned to Mr Peverill 17 months, or 12,418 hours, since they were stolen.

On Thursday, August 6, 29-year-old Scott Sheldon from the Tile Hill area pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods at Coventry Magistrates Court.