TikTok proposal fail: Search for ring lost at Watton lake proves fruitless

An attempt to find a lost engagement ring which thousands of TikTok users saw being accidentally dropped into a lake during a proposal has proved fruitless, a groom-to-be has said.

Footage of Ross Bamber's proposal received millions of views when the ring slipped from his hands and into the water at Wispy Meadows in Norfolk.

He said divers had spent two hours looking for it, but could not find it.

"I think we'll have to leave it as buried treasure," he said.

The 26-year-old had planned to surprise his partner Gerii Ashforth at sunset while on a break near the lake in Watton.

He said he had set up a camera to record the moment, but instead of capturing the special moment, it recorded the jewellery "bouncing along the decking" before it came to rest on the boards, "and then it literally plopped in".

The couple, from Costessey near Norwich, posted videos on TikTok, which have received millions of views, and joked at the time that they "might have to get a scuba diver in".

Mr Bamber decided to enlist the help of qualified divers Alex Gibb and his son Dylan to try and find the ring, but despite using metal detectors and torches in a two-hour dive, they had no success.

Mr Gibb's wife Katie said they had been given it "a good go" but were ultimately "disappointed".

She said as it was "a fish lake full of algae, they could barely see in front of their faces", adding that she believed the ring was "just lost in the stones somewhere".

Mr Bamber, who had to buy a replacement ring in order to complete his proposal, said it was "always a long shot, but we had to give it a try".

"It is what it is," he added.

"If anyone finds it from now on, good luck to them."

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