BURGLARS made off with a haul of antiques worth thousands of pounds in two raids in Broad Town. The incidents happened on the same night at two properties near the road towards Broad Hinton.

And now police are appealing to the public to be on the look-out for the precious pieces in antique shops in the area.

Included in one of the hauls is a chair which is one of only two ever made, the other being in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

The irreplaceable art nouveau oak rush chair was only one of a number of valuable items stolen at one property.

The burglars broke through a first floor external door and stole antique furniture, including a black Windsor chair, a mahogany circular table, cherrywood chair and a 19th century kitchen table. They also took an oil painting valued at £2,000, and damaged an 18th century north African Islamic tapestry.

The value of this burglary is reckoned to be £5,360.

At the second property, intruders forced open a ground floor window and stole a French dresser, antique oak panelling, a farmhouse table and a Victorian corner unit and bookcase.

Together with a number of tools the value of items stolen is estimated at £7,990.

Ann Farthing, of Penny Farthing Antiques in Old Town, said items stolen are unlikely to be sold in the local area: "I remember hearing about five years ago that stolen goods used to be taken to The Lanes in Brighton to be sold, but I don't know what happens now.

"I imagine they would have to put the goods to an auction."

Sergeant Andy Fortune, of Wootton Bassett police, said: "We are looking at a minimum of two offenders and they most certainly would have had a large vehicle to transport the items. We would like to hear from anyone who has been a victim of a similar offence."

Anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the Broad Town area on February 10 should contact police on 01793 852213 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Dave Andrew