AN elderly couple have had to cancel their summer holiday after a burglar stole a travel bag containing passports, tickets and spending money on the eve of the trip.

Fred and Enid Simmons, from Westhoughton, were due to fly to Turkey this week — but instead have been left devastated by the break-in and say they are now scared to be in their own home.

The theft happened as Mr Simmons, aged 76, slept in his armchair on Monday evening.

The couple's daughter, Elaine Fairhurst, said: "The people who did this are scum, preying on elderly people.

"They have been crying all the time about it, and it is terrible to see your parents cry. It has really frightened them and shaken them up.

"My dad feels really bad about it because he was in the house at the time. No matter how much we tell him that it could have been much worse, he is really upset.

"We just hope that the passports can be retrieved. They are worth nothing to anyone else and they need passports to fly."

The stolen bag contained a substantial amount of British money and Turkish Lira, as well as a new pair of glasses belonging to 77-year-old Mrs Simmons.

On the evening of the theft, Mr Simmons had been socialising with friends and returned home at about 7.30pm before falling asleep watching television.

Mrs Simmons returned home a couple of hours later after having her hair cut, to discover the bag had been stolen from the couple's bedroom. The front door was unlocked at the time.

The couple, who have been married for 54 years, were too upset to speak about the incident.

Mr Simmons had a triple heart bypass three years ago and Mrs Fairhurst said her father could now be unfit to fly due to the stress of the incident.

They are also unable to rearrange the holiday because of the passports being stolen.

The couple are insured but do not yet know if they will be able to get a refund on their holiday.

A police spokesman said officers were investigating the incident, and that no arrests had been made.

Anyone with any information is asked to call police on 101.