Burglars steal family heirlooms worth £50,000

10:52pm Tuesday 22nd July 2008

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JEWELLERY thieves escaped with family heirlooms worth £50,000 after creeping into the bedroom of a sleeping elderly couple and stealing the key to their safe.

The pensioners, aged 85 and 80, only realised they had been burgled when they woke up early the next morning.

On Tuesday night the woman spoke of the couple's shock at having burglars in their bedroom.

She said: “I am absolutely gutted. The worst part is the thought they were in the bedroom while we were asleep. I am just glad we didn’t wake up.

“I woke up at about 5.30am and saw the bedroom door was open, which it never is when we are in bed.

“I looked around and noticed my handbag was missing from the dressing table. I discovered that they had found the key to the safe and had taken everything, all my jewellery.”

The burglars broke into the house in Heaton through a bathroom window in the early hours of Friday, July 11.

They sneaked into the couple’s bedroom, took the safe key out of the 80-year-old woman’s handbag, opened the safe and emptied it.

The intruders took around 23 pieces of jewellery, including two distinctive necklaces. The collection, worth up to £50,000, also included brooches and rings.

She said: “Some were given to my mother by my father. They are of great sentimental value and cannot be replaced.”

Police in Bolton are appealing for assistance from the public.