MODEL aeroplanes and equipment worth £900 have been stolen from the home of a model aircraft enthusiast.

Trevor Hughes spent hundreds of hours constructing the models, which were taken from Winchcombe Drive, in Blackpole.

They are marked with the name and address of the owner, Trevor Hughes, who belongs to both Worcester Model Flying Club and Malvern Soaring Association.

He said the members of both clubs would recognise the stolen planes if they saw them

"One is a glider that I'm particularly attached to because I have had it so many years and the others are power models that I built for specific purposes for competitions," he said.

"They each took four to six weeks to build."

Three of the stolen planes are four feet long with wingspans of five feet and the fourth has a wingspan of three feet.

Mr Hughes, a 48-year-old married man with two children, has been flying model aircraft since 1975 and built the planes himself, using balsa wood, glass fibre and plastic film.

The planes were stolen from his shed between 9pm on Tuesday, May 28 and 7am the next day, along with battery chargers and transmitters, which are all security marked.

"I think someone knew they were there, because they have taken specific things and left others, such as the electric aircraft, which is quite surprising," he said.

"They would have had to make several journeys to load them into a vehicle because they are quite bulky, even when they are dismantled.

"The wings are about the thickness of a plank and the fuselage is probably 12in deep at its thickest part, with the wheels sticking out."

An attempt was made to steal the model aeroplanes two years ago, when the thief was apparently disturbed and left most of the spoils strewn around the garden, but got away with a kit box containing nothing more than a collection of scrap balsa wood.

Eight years previously an opportunist thief took some of the aircraft equipment along with other items.

"Now I have increased my security significantly," said Mr Hughes.

PC Gareth Llewellyn, of Worcester Police, said he would like to speak to anyone who saw people or vehicles acting suspiciously in or around Winchcombe Drive.

Call PC Llewellyn on 01905 723888, quoting c/590635, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.