A burglar got away with several items after he entered a house in Shildon at the weekend, on two separate occasions.
The first offence was carried out around 6pm on Friday 20th February, when a witness saw a man acting suspiciously at the rear of a property in Spruce Court. The man had with him a wheelbarrow and was inside the back garden.
The following day at 2pm the owner of the property discovered it had been broken into and also discovered the burglar had stolen the rear door key.
The owner, who was in the process of moving to a new address in Newton Aycliffe, decided to take all his remaining valuables out of the house and to his new home.
When he returned to Spruce Court 40 minutes later he went back upstairs to tidy up the mess caused by the intruder but, while upstairs, the burglar returned and opened the rear door using the key he had stolen. The owner, hearing sounds, ran downstairs and followed the man as he fled from the property.
After a short chase the thief is thought to have made his getaway in a VW transporter van, parked at the entrance of Spruce Court.
The stolen property included an orange Flymo lawnmower, five packs of dark wood effect laminate flooring, a silver necklace and a silver cross pendant.
The suspect is described as white, in his late 20s to early 30s, clean shaven with short brown hair. He was wearing a black beanie hat, a light blue tracksuit top with a grey hooded top underneath and dark blue tracksuit bottoms.
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers 0800 555111.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
