Photo: © 2010 AAP/ROSS SETFORD

Plumbers have been pumping sewerage pipes around the apartment in search of the expensive ring, which Bingle is believed to have flushed down the toilet following the couple's break-up.

It is just one in a series of dramas to emerge from the wreckage of the Bingle and Clarke engagement, which came to a finish last week.

Over the weekend, Clarke was involved in an altercation at a Sydney nightspot after a woman ignored his requests not to be photographed and then refused to delete the pictures she had taken.

"It seems the incident ended amicably, with our security staff taking [Clarke] and his friends out the back door so they could avoid photographers out the front," a spokeswoman for the establishment told the Herald Sun.

This morning, Clarke was again being hounded by cameras, this time as he arrived at Syndey Airport to make his return to the Australian cricket tour of New Zealand.

A "No comment" was all the national vice-captain offered the media pack, however one reporter boarded the plane in the hope of grabbing a scoop.

Meanwhile, Bingle's 2008 model Aston Martin – which was briefly stolen late last year – has been seen on offer in a luxury car dealership for a cool $219,000.