A MEDAL won by a First World War hero is to be donated to a museum, having turned up after being lost for 25 years.

In 1917, Chris Foote-Wood's grandfather, Sergeant John Wood, was awarded a Croix de Guerre by the King of Belgium.

The soldier was given the medal for service on the Western Front when he climbed out of his trench to rescue an injured comrade under heavy fire.

The award was handed down to Mr Foote-Wood, 74, of Darlington, by his father, Stanley Wood, in 1990.

However, it was misplaced and only found recently by contractors who were clearing out a house belonging to Mr Foote-Wood's late wife, Frances.

He said: "I can only think she must have squirrelled it in a safe place away and then forgotten where she put it.

"The house was being cleared out and the guys spotted it on the last day when the last items were being removed – I was over the moon."

Sgt Wood served with the 42nd Division of the East Lancashire Royal Engineers.

Mr Foote-Wood, who thinking the medal was lost for good obtained a replacement, donated the original to the Royal Engineers Museum, in Kent, where it will be put on display.