A POSTCARD collection worth thousands of pounds was stolen when thieves broke into a historian's car.

When Helen Prescott, aged 44, returned to her home in the Beehive area of Horwich having displayed some of her collection at a fair in London she noticed a side window at the back of her car had been smashed.

The Ford Fiesta had been parked in Hodson Street, Wigan, between 9.30am on Saturday, June 23 and 11.10pm last Monday, while she took the train to the capital.

Thieves had taken four heavy duty red and white checked bags, containing 28 cardboard boxes with 30,000 vintage photographs, along with some albums of Victorian photographs. Miss Prescott said: "It's a collection I've built up over 12 years, so I was devastated."

She said most of the postcards depicted scenes of towns and cities, such as Bolton, Southport, Liverpool and York, often featuring significant landmarks.

Miss Prescott said she had taken the collection to show a friend but had later forgotten she had left it in the boot.

She has alerted antique dealers, auction houses and the Internet auction site eBay to look out for the collection and wants members of the public to be alert.

Anyone who has information about the whereabouts of the collection should contact police on 0161 872 5050.