A STABLES near Worcester has been left counting the cost of a £20,000 burglary.

Thieves ransacked the stables at Great House, Brockamin, and stole 19 saddles, stable rugs, a television, a video and a horse statue.

The owners, Liane and Christopher Warwick-Drake, discovered the theft at around 7am on Wednesday, October 25, at the Grade II-listed Queen Anne home in Dingle Road.

The gang had forced a padlock off the rear stable doors and used one of the family's wheelie-style bins to ferry the tack to the road and load it into a van.

Among the 19 saddles were two in a highly distinctive Western-style, one with a leather ring bearing the name Shaamel.

"It was done by people who knew the system backwards," said Mrs Warwick-Drake.

"We have dozens of CCTV cameras and infra red cameras all over the building.

"We know they got in where they could not be seen by the cameras and they made several trips with the bin to load it up, which you can see from the track marks."

Mrs Warwick-Drake said the theft had not caused riding to stop, but said it was "totally unacceptable behaviour".

One of the Western-style saddles is brown suede, while the other is light tan with silver plates.

Two of the saddles are Windcec 2000 in black suede, two are Stuben pony saddles and one has the name Christmas Cracker painted across the back.

Many of the saddles had The Great House Stables embroidered in gold lettering on them.

Five burgundy stable rugs also stolen had the lettering embroidered on them.

The statue is described as 3ft high and depicts an Arabian horse.

Anyone with information about the theft should call Worcester Police on 01905 723888 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.