JEWELLERY and electrical items were taken from two village homes, adding up to a haul worth more than £4,000.

Police believe the same offender is behind the burglaries on Friday, in Nora Street and Ford Street, Barrowford.

In Nora Street, the thief prised beading from a back door and squeezed in through the hole, taking diamond and ruby rings, two wedding rings, a gold bangle, bracelet and pendant.

A digital camera and a gold watch were also stolen, taking the total loss to around £1,800 In Forest Street, burglars first tried to break in by smashing a uPVC window, but failed and made their way in to the house eventually by forcing patio doors open.

From there, a 27in TV, a PlayStation 3, a Nintendo Wii and a Toshiba laptop worth a total of £2,400 were taken.

Inspector Russ Proctor, of Nelson police, said: "Both these houses are a stone's throw away from each other and these burglaries have taken place on the same day, with a similar method used in both of them.

"This is quite unusual for the Nelson area now - we have very few burglaries compared to other areas and we have been working hard to reduce that number.

"We are making inquiries and we are confident we will find who is responsible but, as usual, if anyone knows anything about these we would like to hear from them."

Contact police on 01282 425001, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.