TWO Hollybush residents have found a mysterious message in a bottle while renovating their house.

The message, rolled up and put in the the neck of a bottle, dates back to 1975.

The couple found it when husband Mike Goddard, 58, knocked down some plaster board on one side of their kitchen wall.

Terri Goddard, 61, said: “Mike came up to me and said, I’ve got a message in a bottle for you. I told him to stop messing around, but he said, no, seriously. I’ve left it on the side for you to look at.

“It’s just a nice piece of history isn’t it. The exact date on it is May 6, 1975.”

The note reads: “This is the house that Brian & Mike built 6th, 5th 1975. Anyone finding this should report to nearest police station. As there is a reward for the above. Alis Smith and Jones.”

“Mike thinks it’s just lads messing about. We all do silly things, he keeps saying. And that’s what he thinks - it’s all silly. He’d be happy to put it in the bin,” she said.

“But, even if we never get to find who they are, at least we know when our house was built!

“I’d really like to just find them, and let them know that we found their message.

“There’s something rude on the back and that’s how we’ll know that we found the right men - they’ll know what it says.”

Mrs Goddard believes the original builders may have been from the north.

“On the bottle, it says northern dairy. Were the men northerners who had come here on a job and brought milk with them? Or was Cwmbran getting milk from up north” she added.