THIEVES smashed into an elderly woman's home and stole large amounts of expensive jewellery worth thousands.

Witnesses have reported seeing two teenage men breaking into a 73-year-old woman's home in Rye Close, Bourton-on-the-Water.

Offenders broke into the house and stole jewellery including a pink saphire and diamond gold ring, a cherry and white topaz gold ring, a sky blue topaz gold ring, a rainbow quartz and diamond gold ring, a rhodolite garnet gold pendant and amethyst gold ear-rings as well as a number of items of men's watches and cuff-links.

Police in the Cotswolds are investigating the burglary which happened on Thursday March 15 at around 6.30pm.

Both teenagers that were seen are described as being white and aged between 16 and 18-years old.

One was wearing a black hoodie with the hood up and the other was wearing a black jumper and black beanie hat, carrying a white bag.

A blue car was also seen in the area at the time.

Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, county councillor for Bourton and leader of the Liberal Democrat Party in Gloucestershire admitted that residents "were concerned" about burglaries.

He said: "This kind of incident is always extremely sad to hear about, particularly if it is an older person that has lost items that were particularly valuable precious to them and cannot be replaced.

"Crime rates in the Cotswolds are low compared to other rural areas of the country and we are fortunate with that. Having said that, this is not to say that there are not concerns that need to be looked at and improved.

"I chair crime meetings in Bourton every six months, and one of the concerns that always comes up is with burglaries, and also a number of cash machines being taken in the area. I am sure that this incident will be talked about then.

"The other two concerns that residents have are anti-social behaviour and speeding traffic."

The next meeting takes place on Thursday May 24 at the George Moore Community Centre. Starting at 7pm.

Anyone who is offered any of these for sale, or has any information which would help the investigation, is asked to call Gloucestershire Police on 101 or email 101@gloucestershire.police.uk quoting incident 429 of 15 March.