A wealthy divorcee who went through an acrimonious break-up with her businessman husband spent five years trying to force him to return her wedding ring.

Judith Saunders and Trevor Unwin had assets worth £1.5million when they split up after four decades of marriage, during which time he built a successful career.

But when they married in the 1960s, Mr Unwin was unemployed and had so little money that Mrs Saunders had to buy her own wedding ring herself.

Following their divorce in 2007, Mrs Saunders demanded the 22-carat gold ring - worth around £550 - back, but only recently managed to retrieve it.

The five-year court battle was revealed last week when Mrs Saunders, 66, was denied permission to continue the fight in order to have other items of jewellery returned to her.

The Court of Appeal in London heard that the couple separated in 2004, and were granted a divorce in December 2007 despite briefly reconciling.

Shortly before the split was finalised, they signed an agreement dividing their wealth which left Mrs Saunders with two houses in Sussex worth £500,000.

But she says that it also entitled her to ownership of the wedding ring and three other pieces of jewellery - although these were not specified in the written agreement.

However, she told the court that when she visited the former family home in Forest Row, East Sussex in 2008, Mr Unwin, 66, 'faked a stroke' to stop her entering.

He finally handed over the wedding ring last year, but Mrs Saunders says she is still owed a £4,000 pair of diamond and sapphire earrings, another set of earrings and a designer pearl necklace.

Her legal claim was dismissed by a family judge in November 2012, and last week Lady Justice Gloster denied Mrs Saunders leave to appeal.

The judge expressed some sympathy for her, saying: 'I see force in some of the matters you raise today.'

But she added: 'I do not think she has enough ammunition to have a real prospect of up-ending the judge's findings of fact.'

Urging Mrs Saunders to move on from the dispute, she said: 'I would be doing her no service by allowing this appeal to proceed.

'Litigation is a very difficult game and a very unpleasant game and you would be best to try to put it behind you.'

Mrs Saunders, a former teacher who has also studied law, insisted that the only reason her original case failed was because her ex-husband had already handed back the ring, even though he still has the other jewellery.

Outside court, she said it was a point of principle and not the monetary value of the jewellery - which she put at about £7,000 - that had led to her protracted court fight.

'It was a 22-carat gold band which I paid for - and I paid for his,' she said. 'He was unemployed when we married; I was supporting us. I paid for it and I wanted it back.'

Mrs Saunders said she has now found happiness with her new husband, with whom she lives in Alicante, Spain.

'I'm now married to a widower who is the kindest man in the world - I've found the genuine article,' she said.