A lucky Thai policeman found a rare Melo pearl while eating seafood for dinner with his family.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Phongsakorn Chantana bought a bag of sea snails to grill at home with his wife in Buriram province on April 16.

While the couple was eating, the husband bit on something round and hard when he chewed on the meat of the snail.

Phongsakorn spat out the object but he said he was confused when he saw a pearl the size of a corn seed. He showed it to his wife and realised it might be a rare pearl.

Officer Phongsakorn said he and his wife were hopeful that the pearl was a genuine Melo but they were planning to take it to a nearby university for it to be examined and confirmed.

He said: ‘We have a strong feeling that it could be a Melo pearl but it’s smaller than the ones we’ve seen previously so we want to be sure.

‘We will send the pearl to be examined and if it is actually a Melo pearl, we will be delighted. I think we’ll keep it for good luck.

The couple is currently looking for an institution that could check the authencity of their find and will discuss about selling it afterwards.

On February, trucker Monthian Jansuk found a similar pearl in Chonburi province on February 10 while fisherman Hatchai Niyomdecha stumbled upon the rare gem in Nakhon Si Thammarat province on January 27. Hatchai was offered up to 10 million Baht (£256k) for the 7.68-gram precious gem.

Melo pearls range from orange to tan to brown in colour – with orange being the most expensive shade. They are usually found in South China Sea and Andaman Sea off the coast of Myanmar and are produced by predatory sea snails called Volutidae.