Antiques stolen in two South Downs burglaries

The thieves have escaped with tens of thousands of pounds worth of items in four break-ins at different times of the day, two in the Horsham district.

One was at a home in Washington between 1.50am and 2.50am on Tuesday January 7 while the residents were asleep.

Among the items taken were a number of brass clocks, silver candlesticks and cutlery, Chinese vases, a satinwood table and a walnut cupboard.

Another was at a home in East Street, West Chiltington, between 11.45pm on Thursday (January 9) and 9am on Friday (January 10).

The items taken include a seven foot grandfather clock, a number of paintings, two TVs and a DVD player.

Two other similar burglaries were carried out in Worthing and Shoreham

Operation Magpie was launched to tackle burglary across Sussex.

Detective Constable Jon Stadius said: “In each case the burglars appear to have selected carefully the items they think are of the most value and left other items behind.

“Large numbers of items have been taken so a vehicle would have been needed to transport them away. Some of the items, such as the grandfather clock, were extremely heavy so it is likely a number of people have been involved.

“We would like to speak to anyone who has seen any people or vehicles in the areas of the burglaries recently who looked suspicious or out of place.

“We are also keen to speak to anyone who may have seen the items for sale or has been offered the chance to buy them.

“Please contact us if you know anything at all so we can catch those responsible.”

Anyone with information about any of the burglaries should call 101 quoting serial 271 of 3/1, email [email protected] or call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.