A COPPER swing, stolen from The Rising Sun pub in Miland last month, has been successfully recovered thanks to social media.

Landlord Ben Burston reported the swing, designed and handcrafted by local coppersmith Steve Myburgh, had been stolen from the garden on March 9 on his Facebook page – and that, according to a village resident, the theft took place around 3am in the morning.

Within minutes the news spread like wildfire alerting pub regulars of the missing swing. Just one day later, district councillor Bill Mouland spotted the swing discarded in woodlands on Weaver’s Down, while out walking his dogs and put a picture on his Facebook page.

But the following day it had disappeared again from where it was spotted at the top of Queen’s Road, near Old Thorns Golf course.

Ben launched an appeal for people to be vigilant and keep their eyes open for the large and unusual crescent shaped copper swing, promising a reward to the finder.

A couple of weeks later, one Facebook follower, 16-year-old Jake Smith, from Milland, was out with his father, Robin, who teaches computer science at Bohunt.

They were waiting at the Petersfield Trading Estate for the compound to be opened, when he spotted the missing copper swing among some other large items which had been put to one side.

Jake, an ex Bohunt student, who studies engineering at Alton College, immediately reported his find to Ben and made sure nobody removed the item, before Ben could get there.

Ben told The Herald: “I was so grateful the swing was, although slightly damaged, still in one piece, because we only had it on loan from Steve.

“It has been hanging in our garden for several years and is very popular with all the children. I feared it might have been sold to someone privately and that we would never see it again.

“Jake is a real hero for spotting it among lots of other items. I was told at the depot, it had been reported as fly-tipping and was collected and brought to Petersfield the day after Bill saw it.

“Because of its size, it was stored for a while and if Jake had not seen it that day, it would have been lost forever.”

To thank Jake for his vigilance, Ben has offered him a job working at the pub, as well as a meal and drinks for the whole family.

Jake said: “I had been following the thread on Facebook and knew what the swing looked like because I had seen in hanging in the pub’s garden. While my dad and I were waiting for the compound to open, I spotted this large copper item among other things and I immediate knew it was the missing swing.

“I am pleased Ben has managed to get it back and I am thrilled to have been offered a job working in the pub – something I have wanted to do anyway, especially during the summer holidays.”