A YOUNG girl has been reunited with her beloved teddy a year after it was thought lost in a horrific car park inferno.

Melanie Jones, of Hanmer, has told of how her 11 year-old daughter Lucy was reunited with her favourite teddy Tigger more than a year after it was assumed he had gone forever, after a fire ravaged a car park in Liverpool.

A video clip of Lucy’s emotional reunion with Tigger has touched the hearts of many on Facebook, and ensured a heartwarming ending to a horrible experience.

The Leader:

Melanie Jones comforts her daughter Lucy, 11, after the girl is reunited with her stuffed toy Tigger

The family’s vehicle was one of a number still trapped inside the multi-storey car park next to the Echo Arena after the fire on New Year’s Eve 2017, which completely burnt out another 1,033 vehicles.

Despite their car being unscathed, Ms Jones says it was unable to be recovered and the family were unable to rescue any possessions left inside until the fire service had completed their reports.

She said: “We arrived about 9am for the horse show and parked on level two in a little corner.

“About 10 minutes before the end of the show there was an announcement to say it was stopping as a precaution, there was a small fire in the car park but it was nothing to worry about.

The Leader:

“They brought all the horses into the arena but the show didn’t continue and you could smell smoke in the arena.

“We went outside for a look and realised it wasn’t a little fire so moved away from the area and went across to Liverpool One for something to eat.

“By then it was all on the news, we knew we wouldn’t be getting to our car that night but luckily my sister was able to pick us up and bring us home.”

The Leader:

Ms Jones said that in the following days they were told by the fire service to contact their insurance company and that all the cars would be written off.

She added: “My daughter knew she had left her teddy in the car, because I’d told her she was getting a bit big to be carrying it around.

“But she was instantly absolutely devastated about leaving Tigger and at this point we thought the car had gone up in flames.”

The family, and Lucy, had given up all hope of ever seeing Tigger again.

The Leader:

Delighted Lucy after being reunited with her lost teddy

Ms Jones said: “On January 9 we had an unexpected call to say we could pick up our belongings that were left in the car from a scrapyard in Skelmersdale.

“I checked to make sure Tigger was one of them, but we didn’t tell her until we got there so it would be a surprise.

“We told her we were going to pick something up for her dad, but when she got there she saw Tigger and you can see from the video how emotional she was.

“We were all in tears. The reaction the video has had on Facebook has been incredible. It was a lovely moment and it’s not often something like this ends happily.”