A man who was looking for the family of a couple whose ashes were released into the sea in a bottle said the family had made contact with him.

Mike Nicholls discovered the message in a bottle on Woolacombe Beach, in Devon, on 9 November. The note said the couple had been sent on one “final adventure”.

Mr Nicholls posted photos of the bottle on a Facebook page and said the story touched a lot of people, including one man who messaged him privately.

“This chap said thanks for popping them back in the sea … and he said it was his parents,” said Mr Nicholls.

He said: “They started the journey in Brighton by car and his family drove the bottle to Woolacombe when they set it off at Mortehoe in October.

He added: “Apparently his mum was an actress but he said she would have got a real kick out of it, all the attention that it’s got.”

Mr Nicholls added the son was very grateful to hear about the bottle.

“I would have imagined he would probably assume he’d never hear or see, you know, anything about the bottle at all.”

Mr Nicholls said he resealed the bottle, put some extra tape around it and waited for the tide, then “gave it a good throw into the water, off Ilfracombe”.

He said his advice to other people who may come across the bottle was to be respectful.

“Don’t tip it out, assuming it’s sand, it’s not sand,” he said.

“There’s two people’s ashes inside so if you do find it be respectful and open it very, very carefully and respect the wishes and put it back into the sea so they can continue their journey.”