LEGAL eagle Emma Riach is about to see the fruits of her labour crushed - and she is delighted.

The intellectual property expert from the Southampton office of law firm Lester Aldridge is pictured here surrounded by thousands of jewellery boxes minutes before they were pulped.

A destruction order was placed on them after Emma proved the boxes broke the registered design of the law firm's client, which designs and manufactures the award-winning jewellery ranges Hot Diamonds and Hot Silver.

The work, under her watchful eye, proved an unusual job for Southampton crusher T&G Metals, which is more used to crushing scrap metal.

Emma said the Hot Silver packaging was both innovative and distinctive, with packaging by rival firm JS Jewellers clearly breaking their designs.

She added: "We have represented this client on a number of occasions and I am delighted that once again we have been able to assist them in achieving an excellent settlement and in protecting their innovative brand image."