THIEVES have stolen valuable family heirlooms worth thousands of pounds during a house move.

Bedfordshire Police have released images of a number of items that were stolen during a house move in Clifton last month.

The victim moved from Hitchin to Stanford Lane, Clifton, on Monday June 18, and as they unpacked their goods they noticed that a number of items were missing. As the victim had kept some boxes in storage, he assumed that they would arrive at a later date which had been agreed with the removal firm. However, when the remaining items arrived at the victim’s new home, a box containing valuable family heirlooms was missing.

The items missing include:

n Two gilded bronze figures of ladies with carved ivory faces and hands. These are possible Italian in origin and one of the figures has a small piece missing from the end of one finger. The pair are valued at �12000.

n Two silver figurines of knights in armour carrying a shield and pike/sword. Both have carved, ivory faces underneath the visor as well as identical octagonal pierced foliate bases. The figures are valued at �2000 each.

n An Edwardian Sterling Silver box measuring 225mm by 115mm by 84mm valued at �2500. The box is embossed with pastoral scenes on four scroll feet which support a cast figure of a musician on each corner. The box is believed to have been made by Berthold Muller and is either Dutch or German in origin. The item has been mounted onto a plinth which has a sliver presentation plaque.

PC Paulette Savage, who is investigating the incident, said: “This is a very unfortunate case where the victim has downsized his property and has been looking forward to enjoying his new home, only to end up being the victim of crime.

“We believe that due to a long driveway, opportunist thieves may have passed by when the removal firm were carrying goods in, and taken their chance to steal a number of items from the van. Unfortunately, this wasn’t discovered for some time afterwards.

“We would really like to hear from anyone who was in the area at the time or anyone else who may have information – however small or insignificant they think it is – that could help us. Don’t dismiss your information as unimportant – even tiny details which don’t seem relevant now might become useful later on in the investigation.”

Anyone with information about this crime can contact PC Paulette Savage, in confidence, on 01234 846960, the non-emergency number 101, or text information to 07786 200011.

Alternatively contact independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111, or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.