A stolen statue of a Victorian washerwoman has been recovered after an anonymous caller revealed it was in a village pond.

When the £400 life-size statue disappeared in mysterious circumstances, villagers suspected it was the work of notorious local prankster the Rottingdean Joker.

The only clue was a note saying the washerwoman had booked a voyage on the Titanic.

She had sat in the window of the village wash house watching Golden Square being restored as part of a joint project between Rottingdean Preservation Society and Rottingdean Parish Council.

Her kidnap meant she might miss the square's opening ceremony on November 9.

The prankster called parish clerk Jean Talbot on Saturday morning to say: "Further to the article in The Argus, she's on the island in the middle of the pond."

Preservation Society chairman Paul Seeley said: "At first I thought it was just a lump of concrete but Jean had binoculars and we spotted some material.

"I got into my wetsuit and waded out. There was about a foot of mud on the bottom. She was in the brambles and undergrowth in the middle of the pond."

Jean said: "She is back with her sculptor Janet Leech and will hopefully be ready to take her place again in time for the opening ceremony."