London, May 17 (Inditop.com) An 8 6-year-old Briton spent over seven years finishing a 5,000 piece jigsaw puzzle – only to find one piece missing.

Jack Harris was determined to finish his five feet long puzzle with 5,000 pieces.

The process was nearly complete when he realised that a vital piece was missing. The jigsaw showed the 19th century oil painting The Return Of The Prodigal Son by James Tissot.

Harris searched his home in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, for the key piece, but to no avail. His family now fears one of their two dogs may have swallowed it, Daily Mail reported.

Help was sought from the puzzle’s manufacturer to provide a spare piece, but Harris had taken so long to complete it that Falcon Games has stopped making it.

Eve, Harris’ daughter-in-law, gave him the jigsaw as a Christmas present in 2002.

“We got him this one as a bit of a joke really, because he always boasted he could get them done so quickly, he’s a bit of a whiz with them. It was marvellous to see it finally completed. But when we saw there was a piece missing from the middle, we just couldn’t believe it.

“He was just so disappointed when he found one bit was missing. It’s sad really because now it will never be completed,” Eve was quoted as saying.