The heirloom had remained in a family loft, in Pinner in north-west London, before an elderly woman invited in Bainbridges auction house in Ruislip, west London, for a house clearance following ...

However, it's an heirloom rather than any direct inheritance that is the source of her ire. "I come from a family where heirlooms mean a lot," she said. "Our grandmother left us an antique diamond ...