A widow today spoke of her joy at being reunited with her beloved husband's war medals.

Irene McMahon was heartbroken when burglars struck at her Bradford home, making off with the decorations from the Second World War, her wedding ring and jewellery belonging to her late daughter.

After last December's raid, the 83-year-old said: "The medals mean so much to me but I'm sure they are not worth a lot to anyone else. I have been in tears several times since they have gone."

But three months after they were taken, police managed to trace the medals and handed them back to an emotional Mrs McMahon.

She said: "I am just so glad to get them back. It was heartbreaking when they went."

She added: "I didn't think I would ever see them again. I can only thank the police for finding them."

Mrs McMahon said officers had found them buried in a back garden in the city and added: "They cleaned them up for me and brought them round. It was really nice of them."

However, her wedding ring, cash and other items, such as jewellery belonging to her daughter Christine - who died of cancer at 42 - have not been recovered.

"They have probably been sold to buy drugs," said Mrs McMahon.

Her husband Harry served with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry from the 1920s, seeing action in wartime campaigns across the world.

Among his collection of six medals was a Bronze Star, presented by the Queen of Holland for the sergeant's bravery and 'uncommon devotion to duty' during the nation's liberation.

After reading of Mrs McMahon's plight in the Telegraph & Argus, former RAF serviceman Jim Holcroft, 78, gave her his own medals. Now they have been returned. "I hadn't worn them myself for 55 years and was glad they could be of some good," he said.