A distraught widow is appealing to the public after losing wedding and engagement rings she has treasured for almost 60 years.

Margaret Robinson, 79, was reduced to tears when she realised she had lost the two rings just before the sixth anniversary of her husband Terry’s death, which is on December 8.

The grandmother, from Higher Gate Road in Huncoat, had begun wearing the nine carat gold rings on her little finger when they became too small for her ring finger.

Margaret first noticed they were missing when she took her gloves off after returning home from shopping in Accrington.

She retraced her steps to Peel Street, where she had visited the TSB bank, and Broadway, where she had been in Poundland and Store Twenty One, and then to the bus station toilets and the Coral betting shop on Union Road, where she had waited for a taxi, but no-one reported seeing the jewellery.

The wedding and engagement rings of Mrs Robinson

She said: “I think I might have lost them outside the Coral shop – they were a bit loose and I should have put them on a chain round my neck really.

“When I got home and saw they weren’t on my hand I was in tears, I felt terrible.

“It’s six years since my husband, Terry, died this week and I’ve had those rings nearly 60 years.

“I keep touching my finger to twist them then I remember they’re not there anymore and it really upsets me.”

Margaret describes her engagement ring as a nine carat gold single stone diamond solitaire with ‘shoulder stones’ – small diamond chips – at each side.

Her wedding ring is a nine carat gold band with fretwork in the middle.

The last time she saw them both was on Monday, November 28, the day she went shopping.

She said: “They’re very special to me. I remember Terry and me shopping for my engagement ring together.

“I couldn’t stop looking at it when I first had it and was showing it to all my friends.”

Margaret Robinson on her wedding day

The couple got married in 1962 at St Joseph’s Church in Accrington when Margaret was 24.

Terry died just a couple of years before what would have been their golden anniversary.

Margaret said: “I don’t know if someone has picked the rings up or pawned them or what. I’m upset but you’ve got to carry on.”

If you find the rings or can help Margaret, call 01254 236089.