BRAZEN burglars targeted at least three houses in Bolton on Monday night and stole 13 paving flags.

The thieves struck at Lever Street in Little Lever and Church Street in Bradshaw.

CCTV footage outside the home at Little Lever shows two men digging up three paving stones at around 12.45am on Tuesday before loading them into a silver car and making off.

The Bolton News:

The two thieves outside the house on Lever Street in Little Lever

Meanwhile, on Church Street in Bradshaw, resident Kirsty Phillips woke up on Tuesday to discover four York Stones had been taken from her back garden.

The Bolton News:

The Bolton News:

The gaps where Kirsty's garden flags were taken

She says CCTV from her neighbour, who also had six flags taken, shows two silver cars – including a Vauxhall Corsa – arrived at the scene in separate journeys.

Two young men got out the cars on each occasion and started removing the stones and took them away, according to Kirsty.

The Bolton News:

A silver car captured on camera on Church Street in Bradshaw

The Bolton News:

The space left after flags were taken from Kirsty's neighbour's house

Kirsty said: "The York Stone flags were built with the house in 1845 and you cannot replace them.

"It is upsetting as they are from an era that has been and gone.

"These people are obviously stealing them to sell them.

"To think somebody has just stood in your back garden and has got the brass neck to do it – it just makes me mad.

"Who in the right mind thinks 'tonight we will steal paving stones'?

"They have stolen four stones from my garden and six from my neighbour's house.

"I have seen CCTV from my neighbour and they came back to the road at 11.30pm, 12.30am and another time after that.

"You cannot see the stones if you walked past my house so you would have to know that they would be in the garden."

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Kirsty says she has contacted the police about the crime and that officers have been in touch with her and her neighbour about the theft.

If you have any details contact police on 101 or call the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.