A couple were amazed to find a treasure trove of pictures and letters dating back to the 1940s under the woodwork in their home.

Natalie and Darren Songhurst stumbled across the precious documents in a single envelope under the stairs during renovating works at their Ashford house.

Having read through the array of files, they have worked out they originally belonged to a Henry Gordon Simmons, who served in the RAF during the Second World War.

They are now hoping to find Mr Simmons' family so they can return the well-preserved collection.

Mr Songhurst, 53, said: "We've been here 10 years and it's only because we are doing some renovations that we found it.

"We were pulling things out of the cupboard under the stairs and found, behind some timber, the edge of an envelope.

"My wife pulled it out and all of this was in it which was a bit of a shock.

"We've contacted the previous owners who we bought the house from and it's nothing to do with them.

"From what they're aware of, it's nothing to do with who they purchased from either so it's a bit of a mystery."

The envelope contained around 50 pictures and 15 letters, as well as other documents such as menus, certificates, and school reports.

"We've found a load of photographs and information relating to a Henry Simmons," Mr Songhurst said.

"There are photographs dating back to the war and before the war, and in Kenya. There's also some about the Queen's coronation."

The couple, who have three children, have worked out Henry lived in several places in Kent, as well as Essex and East Sussex but are unsure where his main residence was.

Mr Songhurst added: "He seems to have lived in many places including Margate, Ramsgate, Bexhill-on-Sea and Essex, and he was born in Buckinghamshire.

"We've found addresses of St Mildred's Road in Ramsgate and Francis Road, Leyton, in Essex.

"It looks like he only had a sister and didn't have any children that we're aware of.

"He served in the RAF during the war and it looks like he spent a couple of years in Kenya.

"When he left the RAF after the war, we think he went into the Royal Engineer Reserves."

Mr Songhurst says the collection of items tell a story in their own right.

"He had a nickname of 'Simmie' which is written on many of the letters," he said.

"There are school reports here from 1926 and his grades from when he left school at the age of 16.

"There's also stuff from when he served in the RAF and beyond that.

"Although we have stuff from the Queen's coronation here, there's not a lot of information after the war as to what he went on to do apart from serving in the Royal Engineers.

"There are a lot of letters as well where he was writing to someone named Hilda Thorne in Kenya.

"There are quite a few interesting letters back and fourth between the two of them.

"There are also letters when he was writing to his mother during the 1940s when he was serving.

"Hopefully we can try and find someone who is related to Henry because there is some fantastic stuff to look through here and it would be a shame if it can't go to a family member."

The letter to Henry's mother reads: "Dear mother, just to let you know that I am quite alright and feeling very fit.

"I am afraid there is not a lot in this letter, but there is not a lot one can say.

"We have been having some good weather. I should think the weather is very nice in England just now, May is always a very nice month and the country must look very nice.

"We have been having quite a good time and quite a lot of fun."

The Songhursts, who run a five star cat hotel named Hotel Kitty, said they have contacted the RAF museum who said they would be more than happy to take the collection off their hands.

But more than anything, they are keen to get the pictures and letters back to the family of Henry Simmons.

Through their research, they believe his sister was named Nora Simmons and his mother Agnes Maria Orpwood.

He was born in Buckinghamshire in 1910 and died at the age of 69 in London, in 1980.

His army number was 930749.

There is mention on findmypast.co.uk of his father named Walter Simmons but only that he was born in 1885.

"I know that if this was my relative it would be a hell of a find," Mr Songhurst said.

"With the technology we've moved onto nowadays, you're never going to get this sort of information going forward, everything is digital now and it's more liable to being lost.

"It only takes someone losing a phone which isn't backed up and everything is gone, whereas with this, it's all sitting here for someone to trawl through.

"It's literally someone's life, and a big chunk of it."

Are you a relative of Henry? Email kentishexpress@thekmgroup.co.uk