A set of winners trophies stolen 30 years ago could soon be back in the hands of their owners.

The miniature cups and a commemorative plate were among 12 items of silverware found dumped in a front garden in Shoreham.

Police believed they might have been hidden there after a burglary last week and the thief intended returning later to retrieve them.

We helped trace the original owners of the prized trophies which were stolen in a raid on a house next to a tennis club in Wimbledon in the early Seventies.

Police do not know what happened to them in the meantime, before turning up in the front garden of George and Sylvia Robinson, of Connaught Avenue, Shoreham.

Mr Robinson said: "They were not in the front garden when I was out there earlier in the day.

"When my wife went out a couple of hours later she spotted a black shopping bag and saw there was something wrapped in a blanket inside it.

"I pulled the blanket back and saw there was a lot of silver in there, including what appeared to be some tennis trophies."

Other items in the haul included a silver vase, two small bowls and delicate baskets.

Mr Robinson contacted Shoreham police station and arranged to take them in on Tuesday.

Two of the miniature cups had been awarded by the Wilton Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, London.

One was presented to Mrs K Cockerell and Mrs K Ashby for winning the ladies doubles title in 1950.

The second was won by Mrs Ashby who was the club's ladies singles champion in 1948.

Club manager Terry Oakes said the Cockerell family still owned a house next door to the club, two miles from the home of tennis at the All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon.

Mr Oakes said: "The family have a long connection with Wilton Tennis Club which goes back some 70 years."

Mrs Cockerell's daughter is now Angela Lowe who lives in Lancashire but who is still a trustee of the club.

Mrs Lowe said: "Our house next to the club was burgled in about 1970 and some miniature keepsake trophies and other silver was stolen.

"My mother's name was Elsie but her middle initial was K and as only her initials were engraved on the trophy it is possible that the 'E' has rubbed off.

"We also knew a Mrs Ashby who moved to Kent, but she died a while ago.

"This is all very fascinating and I shall be coming down South in about five weeks' time.

"I shall contact Shoreham police station and make arrangements to see if any of these things were among the silver stolen in the burglary at our home.

"I have still got a copy of the insurance claim detailing what was stolen somewhere. I shall have to dig it out."