The shine has been taken off a young man's gift to his fiance.

Paul Watts is furious that a jeweller refused to give him a refund for an expensive bracelet.

But the jeweller said this week it had acted 'fairly and reasonably'.

Paul bought the £249 two-colour nine-carat-gold bracelet from Raffles jewellers in Keighley's Airedale Shopping Centre in September for his girlfriend Gemma Needham.

"It was the week I passed my driving test and I had been a pain to be with," says Paul, of Edensor Road, Keighley. "I bought the bracelet as a thank you to Gemma for putting up with me."

However, Gemma's joy was short-lived because within two weeks the clasp on the bracelet had broken and it had to be returned to the shop. "The clasp was pushed back into place," says Paul, an electrical engineer at Landis Lund. "We were told everything was fine and the clasp was now secure."

They returned home, but when Gemma put the bracelet back on it broke once more. Again it was taken back to the shop and again the clasp was repaired.

The couple took the bracelet home, but by then Gemma was scared to wear it because she thought she might lose it if it broke again. Then Gemma did lose the bracelet. When it turned up they discovered a link had broken and that is how the bracelet had been lost.

The furious couple say by then they had had enough. They took the bracelet back to Raffles that afternoon and demanded a refund.

They were told by manager Phillip Wilson that the owner of the shop - John Gray - was on extended leave until June. Mr Wilson told them that he was not authorised to give them a refund for the bracelet.

"He made out as if we were to blame for what had happened," says A-level student Gemma. "When we told him we wanted a refund he got really annoyed."

Paul adds: "We have not got what we paid for. I would have expected far better quality than this. If I was to buy any more jewellery it would not be from raffles."

When we questioned Mr Wilson about the bracelet he told us he was unable to comment until he had been contacted by the shop owner.

Mr Wilson later told us that after consulting Mr Gray and the National Association of Goldsmiths (NAG) they were not prepared to give the couple a refund.

"We feel we have acted fairly and reasonably under the circumstances," he said. "It appears the bracelet may have been snagged or caught on something in the first place. We have repaired it on three occasions as a gesture of goodwill and we would be prepared to repair it again.

"If the couple are still not happy, they could send the bracelet to the NAG who would carry out an independent report."

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Trading Standards says people will accept repairs if they are done satisfactorily. "It seems that in this case there have been four attempts to repair the bracelet and it is still not right," he says. "A satisfactory solution would be a refund."

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