A YORK author is appealing to members of his community after his laptop was stolen from his living room during a burglary.

Alex Willmott, 29 of 43 Carnot Street off Leeman Road, lost two unpublished pieces of work as a result of the crime. The thief or thieves also took a black Playstation 3 from the terraced house.

Mr Willmott, who has recently sold the rights of his 'Selah' trilogy to a film production company, is urging anyone with information to come forward.

He said: "The machine is worth a few hundred quid, but I'd personally pay more than that to get it back. It has work on there that means more to me than cash. It's the equivalent of an artist getting his paintings stolen, or a musician being robbed of his best recordings.

"f anyone knows anything about this, please speak with the police."

The black laptop was an 'e machines' model worth around £250.

The theft took place between 1am and 8am on Sunday.

Mr Willmott asked anyone with information to phone North Yorkshire Police on 101.