Police are appealing for information after a 79 year old man had garden tools and machinery stolen from his allotment sheds in Nelson. The burglary took place overnight between Monday 15 June and Tuesday 16 June when thieves broke into sheds at his allotment on Messenger Street and stole various tools and machinery including a lawn mower, rotivator, strimmer, compressor, bolt croppers, drill bits and a generator which had a combined value of over £1,000.

PC 1018 Victoria Beverley of Burnley Police said: “This burglary has had a huge impact on the victim and the culprits must not realise what damage they have caused to him. He kept his sheds meticulously tidy and used his tools to make wooden furniture and grow his own vegetables. The stolen items weren’t just tools to him, they were his life.

“We are appealing to anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the area at the time of the burglary, or anyone who may have come across the stolen tools to contact us.”

Anyone with information can contact police on 101 quoting crime reference EG1503143.

Alternatively Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at Crimestoppers-uk.org. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.