THIEVES stole family photos, an eight-year-old boy's Christmas money and a handbag and computers, when they broke into a house in York.

Ruth Stephenson woke on Wednesday morning to find thieves had been in her family’s home in Shipton Street overnight.

She said: “We were all asleep upstairs, and I woke up to find the electrics had tripped.”

She went downstairs and found the front door was open. Her laptop and handbag were missing along with her step-son Max’s PlayStation, his Christmas savings, and her partner Philip Cawood’s wallet. The burglars had struck between midnight and 7am.

“They had not taken the chargers for the laptop and PlayStation, just cut through the wires," said Ruth. "That’s what caused the fuse to go.”

The family realised the spare key was missing from its hook in the house, and think the thieves snuck in and took it before coming back in the night.

Now Ruth wants people in the area to be vigilant, and to keep an eye out for her families’ stolen possessions.

“I want to get my bag back because there are things in there worth nothing to someone else, but that matter a lot to me.”

York Press:

There are family photos on the laptop and the camera, she added, while her partner’s wallet was a gift from his father and has sentimental value, and Max has lost money he had saved from his pocket money and from Christmas.

The stolen PlayStation is distinctive because of an army camouflage cover on the controller, and neither it nor the laptop have chargers. Ruth hopes someone locally might find her bag, which is large, black leather and with plaited handles.

Police are urging people in the area to take care locking and securing their homes.

In November and December officers said people in Clifton, Huntington Road, The Groves and Heworth should take extra care after reports of several incidents and suspicious circumstances, and should report any suspicious activity to the police.

York Press:

Anyone with information about the burglary on Shipton Street should call police on 101, ask for the force control room, and pass on information quoting reference 12170009709.