A SCEPTICAL pensioner posted an ordinary pebble to a company which claimed it would polish it up - and got an emerald in return.

Now Harold Longstaff, of Lyon Walk, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, is wondering if he has a back garden full of precious stones.

Mr Longstaff, 78, phoned the Strike Lucky Games company after winning an unusual prize on a free scratchcard which came with a newspaper.

He was sent a small, greenish stone and told that if he sent it back, with £9.99 plus postage and packing, he would get an emerald necklace in return.

Mr Longstaff said: "They said their specialist cutters and polishers would cut this down and put it in a necklace with a lucky horseshoe.

"So I got a little stone out of the garden and sent that off instead, thinking they would send it back - but along came this necklace."

He added: "I think it's a bit of a rip-off for people. If I was hard-up, I'd not find it funny, but it has finished up as a joke.

"I was just wondering if that means I've got a garden full of jewels - I must be rich."

Adrian Williams, of Strike Lucky Games, said: "If we find on cutting and polishing that the original stone was unsatisfactory, we would have used a different emerald to make sure he got what he paid for.

"We wouldn't have polished a stone from his garden and pretended it was an emerald."