BURGLARS who broke into a shed and stole a man's pet birds, have left the owner devasted.

Raymond Haworth, 47, of Pole Lane, Darwen, hit out at the offenders who made off with the 30 quails from their hut just off School Lane, Edgworth, last week.

Mr Haworth said his mother, who is in her 70s, went to see the birds about three times a day while he was at work, but was left devastated on Friday after finding only three of the birds were left in the shed and a pile of feathers lying nearby.

He said he believed the birds, which would fetch about £5 each on the market, had been taken by 'idiots' and killed.

He said: "The birds are not really worth anything and it's not even the money I'm bothered about. They were there as a pleasure for my mother who looks after them for me while I'm at work. They were there for the whole family to enjoy.

"I personally think they were taken by idiots and killed judging by the feathers on the floor. I checked them at 7.30pm on Thursday night and by 8am the next morning they had gone. My mum is really upset.

"It's the principle that people are going up there and taking stuff. It concerns me that my mother has been going up there for years and has always been safe but what would happen to her if one of these idiots was in the shed.

"You can always replace things that are stolen but if they're stood round the corner when she gets there, what are they going to do to her? That's what concerns me more than anything.

"There's a former nursing home nearby and before it closed about 12 months ago there were always lights on and staff coming in and out at night and in the morning and there was very little trouble around then.

"Now there's nobody around and it's just a little village and not an area that is patrolled regularly by police."