A man who had more than £17,000 worth of jewellery stolen from his car while it was parked outside a York hotel is offering a £1,000 reward in the hope of seeing the precious items again.

Two of the most distinctive pieces of jewellery stolen from Kenneth Hardman's BMW were made for him by his son, a goldsmith, and Mr Hardman is asking Evening Press readers to be on the look out for them.

The Blackpool caf owner was staying in the city as part of an annual trip he makes to the antiques fair at Harrogate's Yorkshire showground.

But his weekend at Elliot's Hotel, in Sycamore Place, came to an miserable end when he discovered he had been burgled as he went to pack up his car on Monday morning.

"Whoever it was who broke into the car made a hell of a mess," said Mr Hardman.

"They had gone in through the passenger window and I think they must have used a crow bar to get into the glove compartment, which is where everything was.

"The garage has told me it's going to cost me £2,185 to get the damage repaired."

Stolen from the car were a diamond signet ring with a claw setting, made by Mr Hardman's son and a second gold ring, also made by his son, which has three shoulders, each set with a diamond.

"Those two rings alone are worth £14,000," said Mr Hardman, who also lost a gold identity bracelet, two pairs of gold cufflinks, a man's Russian wedding ring, a lap-top computer and a black, onyx Cartier pen in the raid, as well as a quantity of cash.

He estimates the total value of the theft to be between £17,000 and £20,000.

"Obviously this has hit me hard - I've been coming up to York for years and nothing like this has ever happened before," said Mr Hardman.

"But it is not just the money - the rings, which are set with old cut diamonds - were made by my son, and so they are irreplaceable to me.

Mr Hardman is offering a £1,000 reward to anyone who can supply information leading to an arrest and his stolen treasures being returned.

Anyone who has information about the crime is asked to contact York police on (01904) 631321.

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