A woman returned home after visiting her sick mother in hospital to find her house had been burgled.

Newlyweds Karen and Paul McCready have made an emotional appeal for their wedding video and precious family photos, stolen during the raid, to be returned.

The couple were devastated when they discovered the footage of their marriage and pictures of their children were taken during the break-in at their home in Minster Road, Minster.

They wed at the Ferry House Inn, Harty, on August 2.

Mrs McCready said: “If someone is sitting on them somewhere and there’s a way to get them back to us we would like them to return them – I just want them back in our hands if that’s possible.”

The disc of the ceremony was still inside the AgfaPhoto camcorder taken by thieves after they broke into the property by kicking in the front door.

They also took Sony PSP and Nintendo DS portable games consoles, costume jewellery, three Toshiba laptops and an HP netbook. Mr McCready’s laptop contained pictures of his two daughters from his previous marriage, while his wife’s laptop contained photos of her two children – Alex, 17, and Sky, 15 – who live with her ex-husband.

Mrs McCready, 47, was at King’s College Hospital, London, visiting her mother – who had undergone an operation to remove a cancerous growth from her gall bladder – when the theft happened.

The break-in was discovered by her 77-year-old father, David Walder, at about 4pm on October 10, when he visited the bungalow to check on her two dogs.

Mrs McCready said: “They must have come in and gone as quickly as possible. They’d pulled out drawers and cupboards.

“I know we should have put the photos on a disc, but we just didn’t think. They’re very precious and I’m desperate for them to be returned, they can’t be replaced.

“It’s a callous thing to do. I was in tears with my husband the other day. I think it’s just that everything has come together that upset me.”

• Anyone with information is asked to call police on 01795 584165, quoting crime reference CY/15883/11.