A BASINGSTOKE couple have been left devastated after valuable items worth thousands of pounds were stolen from their home while they were on holiday.

Shaiju Joseph and Nisha were in Wales when their house in Popley was broken into.

Nisha, a nurse at Basingstoke Hospital, said the stolen items included gold ornaments of her mum, who died last year in India.

The 44-year-old had brought the ornaments to the UK in memory of her late mum.

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The couple found that their house was broken into when they got back from Wales at around 7.45pm on Thursday, August 18.

“When we returned, we were shocked to see the window of our back door was smashed,” said Mr Joseph, a worker at Asda Basingstoke.

“My wife immediately called the police. While on call, police asked me to go inside the home and check what happened. I went inside and saw that our home had been burgled. Our bedrooms were turned upside down and the gold ornaments were missing.

“Police asked us to not to sleep in our home that night and wait for officers to turn up. So we went to a friends’ home.”

The family say that officers came to their home until the following day. 

“We understand that they are extremely busy and are struggling with staff shortage. But it was really difficult to sleep in another house while waiting for the police to turn up, and not knowing what all have we lost from our home,” Mr Joseph, 46, said.

An officer finally arrived at the home on Friday morning (August 19). A few hours later, forensic officers also arrived at the home and collected evidence.

The burglary has left a scarring memory in the lives of the couple, who have been living in this home for the past 13 years.

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“We can’t even close our eyes to sleep since the incident,” Mr Joseph said.

“My wife loves to do some gardening. But she is afraid to even step out to the back garden now. She is worried someone would be in the back garden.

“We haven’t been to work since. I don’t want to leave her alone at home when I’m at work."

A Hampshire Constabulary spokesperson said: "This burglary was reported to us on the evening of Thursday, August 18 in Abbey Road, Popley, Basingstoke. 

"It's believed the burglar(s) got in through a rear door by smashing the glass.

"We are appealing for anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious in the area over those few days or has any information about the crime to get in contact with us on 101 quoting: 44220336253.

"There have been no arrests currently in connection with this incident."