A DEVASTATED farmer has lost £4,000 worth of Christmas turkeys after thieves raided a shed on his allotment.

The 120 birds, the entire stock of Ralph Rushton, of Manchester Road, Baxenden, had been fed on special organic food ready for the festive market.

They were kept on an allotment near Hollins School, but he found the doors of the shed smashed open and the turkeys gone.

Mr Rushton thinks the thieves knew the birds were expensive and organically fed, as they ignored other turkeys on the site.

Accrington police are anxious to hear from any witnesses, especially anyone who saw a white panel van driving away from the allotments down Hollins Lane at about 8.50pm on Tuesday.

The vehicle is coloured with patches of orange and seemed to be weighted down at the back.

Mr Rushton, a market gardener who also grows vegetables, bought the birds in August.

"I have had turkeys all my life and nothing has ever happened to them like this before," he said.

"It's too late now to buy any more for Christmas. It makes me so angry that someone could do this."

Anyone with information should contact Accrington CID on 01254 382141.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.