A beloved toy which was lost in Oxford while a family visited the city has been safely found.

Claire Cresswell Lane visited Oxford from Sutton Coldfield with her family on Saturday (August 20).

During the visit, a toy hammerhead shark belonging to Ms Lane’s nine-year-old son Nelson went missing.

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Yesterday she explained to this newspaper that they last saw the plush, aptly called Sharky, at the Jurys Inn Hotel in Godstow Road.

Despite a call to the hotel, there was no sign of Sharky.

Her son had owned his “beloved” toy for about seven years, making him a firm member of the family.

Thus they were keen to find Sharky and even offered a £50 reward to whoever found him.

Today, the family were overjoyed to hear news that Sharky had been located safe and sound.

It turns out the toy was at Jurys Inn Hotel all along but had just not been found at the time Ms Lane called.

She said Nelson relieved to hear Sharky is safe and said "oh thank goodness for that" when she told him the news on the phone.

The toy is now enroute home to the West Midlands via courier and will be soon reunited with his family.

She said: “Shout out to Natasha Townsend, front of house manager at Jurys Inn, and the housekeeping team, for persevering and getting back to me.”

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This story was written by Sophie Perry. She joined the team in 2021 as a digital reporter.

You can get in touch with her by emailing: sophie.perry@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @itssophieperry

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