A WOMAN woke to find her entire garden path had been stolen.

Valerie Lingard was devastated after finding five large York paving slabs had been taken from her home in Plodder Lane, Farnworth.

The heavy stone squares, which had remained untouched for more than 30 years, are understood to have been loaded into a van and driven away on Monday night.

Mrs Lingard, aged 66, lives with husband Peter Lingard, aged 59, but the couple did not hear any noises while the culprits escaped with the flagstones.

Her daughter, Catherine Ivie, aged 43, said: “She woke up Tuesday morning and they had gone. She has lived there for 36 years and the flags were there when she moved in. They were just sitting on the soil because they’d been in so long that she she had never really done anything with them.

“We’re just finding it hard to believe that nobody else saw anything as she lives on a main road. My mum’s got quite a nice front garden and she’s had lots of pots and ornaments stolen in the past, but this is the first time something big has happened. She’s upset. The flags are expensive to replace.”

Mrs Ivie said her boyfriend was planning to take her mother to a DIY store to buy replacement stones which he would fit himself.

Mrs Ivie added: “One of the flags was loose because a tree root had raised it a little bit and a couple of weeks ago while my mum was on holiday my stepfather lifted it up, dug out the root and laid it flat again.

“We’re wondering if somebody has seen him doing it and thought: ‘Actually, they do come up quite easily, we’ll come back for them’. It seems to be too much of a coincidence: that was the first time they have been taken up in 30-odd years and soon after they have gone.”

Sergeant Mike Sharples, the Bolton hub sergeant, said there were no other reported flagstone thefts in the borough between Saturday and Tuesday and no spates had been identified.

In Bury, there were nine paving slabs thefts in just seven days in July in which multiple gardens and even a churchyard were targeted.

Anyone with information is asked to call Greater Manchester Police on 101.