Last updated at 11:53, Sunday, 24 January 2010

A YOUNG family whose flood-hit home was raided have told the thieves – just give us back our treasured family photo collection.

Burglars broke into David and Rachael Cooper’s home in North Lonsdale Road, Ulverston, between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Mr and Mrs Cooper were with sons Joe, five and Charlie, two, at their rented accommodation in Croftlands, Ulverston, where they have been living since their house was flooded on November 19.

The thieves took two expensive dehumidifiers, worth £800 each, supplied by an insurance company to dry out the house, a £650 flat screen TV, a £400 computer and several other items.

But it is a collection of family digital photographs stored on the PC that Mr and Mrs Cooper are most upset about.

Mrs Cooper, 28, who works in a greengrocers, said: “We would just ask the people who’ve done it to just return the computer or, somehow, just the pictures on it. That’s all we want.

“We’ve been coming to terms with the flooding but then this happens.”

A box containing the couple’s wedding memories was also ransacked.

Mr Woods, 33, said: “Some gold cufflinks of my dad’s were in there. My dad passed away a few years ago and when we got married I had them on to have, in a way, a bit of my dad there with me. They’re not really worth anything, but it’s these little things.”

Mr Woods, a self-employed stonemason, said, fortunately, the house did not have many possessions in it.

He said: “We have left the downstairs curtains open purposely to let any thieves know there’s nothing of any worth in here, so they can see it’s like a building site downstairs.

“To break into any of us down here and target us knowing the community is at a pretty low ebb anyway – well, you have a very low opinion of the people that have done it.

“I must admit, getting burgled is worse than getting flooded.

“It’s just the thought of somebody being in the house.

“There is nothing worth nicking now, that’s the only good thing.”

Mr and Mrs Cooper are fully insured for the flooding and the burglary.

Unfortunately, their luck appears to have otherwise run out of late.

A still upbeat Mr Cooper, who has been checking on the house twice a day, said: “As the policewoman said, in the bad luck stakes, we’ve won. It’s actually come in a three because we broke down in the car taking the kids with a few friends to Blackpool circus. Within 10 minutes of the tower the radiator hose snapped off and we waited for three hours for the AA to pick us up.”

The family’s home was under nine inches of water at one point. But they hope to return in June when their six-month contract expires for their rented accommodation – where they will celebrate Charlie’s third birthday tomorrow.

A Cumbria police spokesman confirmed the theft was reported to them at 7.51am on Thursday.

Anyone with information is asked to call Cumbria police on 0845 33 00 247 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

First published at 10:30, Saturday, 23 January 2010
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk