A Shropshire pensioner who was just a young girl when she witnessed one of Britain’s biggest archaeological discoveries will have her story told on TV.

Eighty-year-old Elsie Lloyd, of Wem, is the last surviving witness to the discovery at Sutton Hoo of an Anglo-Saxon ship containing the treasure of one of the earliest English kings, Rædwald of East Anglia.

She still has artefacts from the dig, which were given to her by those excavating near the River Deben, in Suffolk, while they were uncovering the famous hoard.

The find is considered to be one of the most important archaeological discoveries made in Europe and Elsie’s story is set to enthrall viewers of the new ITV Granada series of Lost Treasures, which starts on Sunday at 6pm.

Elsie said she was holida-ying with her aunt in 1939 when they saw some men digging near the River Deben. At the time they could not imagine that the excavations would bring to light the richest burial found in Britain.

She said she was amazed to witness the 90ft long ship in the sandy earth.

She said: “The body of King Raedwald was raised but quickly disintegrated like a ghostly spectre when it was exposed to the air.”

The ship and burial regalia, including the Sutton Hoo helmet, are now in the British Museum.

Elsie was given some souvenirs of the dig by the archaeologist Basil Brown, including ship rivets and timbers which she still treasures to this day.

Sunday’s show and future episodes of the series are presented by adventure archaeologist Mark Olly. He reveals how treasures are lost and found by ordinary people.

Producer Phil Hirst, of Planet X, said: “Elsie is a friend of the family so when we secured the second series it was essential that we featured her incredible eye witness account.”

County residents should be able to pick up the ITV Granada signal via a digital box and the episode is also expected to be repeated on the History Channel.

By Oliver Cartwright