Diamond in the rough '“ big-hearted bin staff truly are Pamela's best friends

But she didn’t figure on the diamond service provided by big-hearted bin staff and roads team at East Dunbartonshire Council.

After a painstaking search, amazingly, they came up trumps.

Pamela, from Milngavie, lost the precious gem when her finger got caught as she put some cardboard into the recycling bank at Tesco in the town.

After contacting the council’s customer call centre, the distraught mother-of-two was put in touch with the Waste Services Team.

They arranged for the Roads Team to uplift the recycling bank and empty its contents at the Mavis Recycling Centre in Bishopbriggs.

A team of volunteers then began the slow process of working through the giant mound of paper and cardboard to try to find the gem.

A council spokesperson said: “After nearly an hour of searching they had almost given up hope. But amazingly something caught the eye of one of the search team who spotted the diamond and plucked it from the mountain of recycling.”

The team then contacted Pamela and the jewel was soon reunited with its ecstatic owner.

Pamela said: “I was devastated and heartbroken but everyone really went out of their way to help me.

“I never thought for a minute they would find it. It was worse than a needle in a haystack situation.

“They really went above and beyond what you would expect anyone to do for you in that situation.

“I was so happy that I got the chance to thank the team. It was so nice of them and it was amazing to get it back.

“It was like an early Christmas miracle.”

Councillor Stewart MacDonald, Convener of Neighbourhood Services, said: “Our most valuable asset is our employees and in this case they have delivered a diamond service to Mrs Mathieson.

“The Waste Services Team deserve a lot of praise. It was a great effort by all those involved and they really went an extra mile to help.”