A THIEF has stolen a pensioner's tools in a raid on a shed in Nelson.

The burglary took place overnight between Monday, June 15 and Tuesday, June 16 when thieves broke into a 79-year-old man's allotment on Messenger Street.

The green-fingered man has lost tools and machinery, including a lawn mower, rotavator, strimmer, compressor, bolt croppers, drill bits and a generator which had a combined value of more than £1,000.

PC 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.