LITTER-picking on Porlock Weir beach, Keep Britain Tidy ambassador Keith Hunt did not give the washed-up plank of wood a second glance – until he saw a bronze memorial plaque was screwed on it.

It was the end of a year-long 140-mile voyage for the remains of a memorial bench, swept away from a Worcestershire village in last year’s floods in the wake of Storm Dennis.

And yesterday the story had a happy ending when Keith took the plaque back to the village of Upper Arley – and returned it to the widow of the man it honoured.

The plaque, remembering John Bannister, a long-time worker at the Arley estate and arboretum, who died in 1995, had been attached to a bench in the village for several years before it was carried away by the River Severn floods, broken up and the wreckage swept down the Bristol Channel to the West Somerset coast.

It was found by Old Cleeve School caretaker Keith, a devoted litter-picker since childhood, on one of his regular tidying-up stints on West Somerset and Exmoor beaches and beauty spots.

Keith remembered: “I was picking up rubbish on Porlock Weir beach when I came across this piece of wood and noticed a bronze plaque attached to it. I wasn’t sure where Arley was so I took a photograph and returned later to unscrew the plaque and take it home.

“I discovered Arley Arboretum when searching online and got in touch to make arrangements to return the plaque. I have sent photographs to Arley and everyone was thrilled, particularly John Bannister’s widow, who still lives on the estate.

“They all assumed the plaque had gone forever. There are now plans to put it on a new seat.”

Keith added: “I took the plaque to school to show the pupils the route it travelled and how it got to Porlock. Over the past year, it could have ended up anywhere and never have been found.

“It was just luck that the plaque was facing upwards on the beach – and that I was there before the tide swept the plank out to sea again.”

A veteran charity fundraiser, Keith, who lives at Bilbrook, has taken on numerous charity feats including the national three peaks 24-hour challenge and a Himalayas charity trek.

“I am so glad I found the plaque,” Keith said. “A bonus was that John Bannister’s daughter, who lives in America, saw the news on the internet two days before she got married. I like to think it was an unexpected wedding present!”

A story on the plaque’s return to Upper Arley will be in Friday’s Free Press.