THE First World War medals stolen from Liskeard Museum have been returned to the town.

Their recovery is down to the front page story in The Cornish Times on January 24 reporting the theft, and to the honesty of a medal collector, who is now £4,000 out of pocket.

Mr John McGovern and his wife Anita travelled from their home in Carbis Bay, St Ives, on Wednesday to bring back the five medals which had been awarded to Liskeard wartime nurse Dorothy Penrose Foster.

Mr McGovern bought the medals from a reputable dealer in January 2013, and said, as a collector of 37 years standing, nothing like this had ever happened to him before.

'I actually sold five of my lesser groups of medals to help raise the money to buy the Penrose Foster collection, because they were of the type I had always wanted,' he said.

'It was the Military Medal which caught my eye as only 128 were awarded to women in the First World War, and they are quite rare. After The Victoria Cross this is the medal that most collectors would love to have in their possession.

'These medals were my prize collection and I am really sad to part with them.'

Mrs McGovern said: 'He was like a kid in a sweet shop when he first got them he was so thrilled.'

Mr McGovern only discovered the story of the theft on Sunday. He had looked up Dorothy Penrose Foster on the internet because he wanted to see if any of her siblings had married into Guy Gibson's family of The Dambusters fame, as his middle name was Penrose.

'Your story instantly came up,' said Mr McGovern, who contacted the paper early on Monday morning to break the news that he had the medals and would be returning them.

'I was over the moon to be able to buy the medals, and myself and the dealer researched as always, to make sure that they were legitimate,' he said.

'Nothing came up about them anywhere, and the dealer, who I trust 100 per cent, said he had bought them from a person who said he was a representative of the Penrose Foster family, who had fallen on hard times. There was no reason to disbelieve him.

'I couldn't believe they were, in fact, stolen a year ago, but, as soon as I found out, I knew I couldn't possibly keep them. They belong to Liskeard.

'I am upset but I had to do the right thing.'

Anna Monks, museum curator said: 'It is wonderful that these medals are back in their home town, especially as we commemorate the start of the First World War.

'We are very grateful to the purchaser who returned them as soon as he discovered they were stolen.'

Ian Goldsworthy, chair of the museum management committee, added: 'It was commendable of Mr McGovern to return these medals so quickly. The people of Liskeard will now be able to see the complete display about their own war heroine again.'