LUCK was on Elizabeth Guilford's side when she was reunited yesterday with priceless family artefacts stolen from her Mayfield home in a robbery scam.

The Herald reported yesterday on the theft, one of several in Mayfield and Stockton which involved an offender distracting someone at their front door while an accomplice broke in.

The article prompted many offers of help to Ms Guilford, 71, including one from Denis Crossman, of Crossies Newsagent, Mayfield.

Mr Crossman went with Ms Guilford yesterday to a dilapidated vacant block near her home and searched for her handbag and other items stolen last Thursday.

The rain-sodden handbag was recovered under a piece of cardboard by a fence.

Money and some jewellery was missing but Ms Guilford's father's World War I medal, her grandfather's gold medallion, a cameo that belonged to a great-grandmother and a ring were inside.

"It's almost unbelievable," Ms Guilford said.

"Essentially, I got the things that really mattered to me. The most precious items have been found."

She said her treasures would have been lost without Mr Crossman's help.

Mr Crossman said Ms Guilford had been a customer of his newsagency for 19 years.

He said he felt compelled to help after learning how upset she was about losing her heirlooms.

"It's just something I'd do for anybody in a similar situation," Mr Crossman said. "It's just part of being a community."