A YOUNG mum is begging thieves to "have a heart" and return a batch of camcorder tapes containing footage of her baby daughter's christening and first holiday.

Civil servant Nicola Stewart, 25, has launched an appeal following the theft of a Hitachi camcorder from her home in Haywood Road, Accrington, on Sunday 20 March.

The camera was stolen while she was enjoying a family barbecue with her husband Joe, 25, and 20-month-old daughter Katie at her sister Angela's home in Padiham.

She said: "When we got home, I knew something was wrong because the cat was behind the door instead of in the kitchen.

"The stairgate had been ripped off the bottom of the stairs and the house was completely ransacked. We were shocked as we had never had any problems before."

Several small tapes were taken during the raid, including footage of Katie's christening last July at St John's Church; Katie and Joe's wedding reception; a family holiday to Salou, Spain; and pictures of Katie immediately after she was born in Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn.

Nicola added: "It is just one of those things. You say you are going to put the tapes on video but never actually get round to it.

"They are no good to anyone else. They are our treasured memories and we just want them back.

"If anyone out there knows who has them or will give them back we would be grateful."

Other stolen items include five gold rings - including one which belonged to Joe's great- grandmother - gold chains, a mobile phone, £60 in cash and a rotary watch given to Nicola by her parents just before her dad, Jim, died from cancer.

Sergeant Bob Eaton, of Accrington Police, said: "We have had some success over the last few weeks and a number of our target criminals are on remand for burglaries.

"We are, however, still investigating this particular crime and would welcome any information."

If you can help Nicola recover her property, contact PC Postlethwaite at Accrington Police on 0845 125 35 45.