THE owners of five border collie puppies which were stolen from a farm in Lumb are appealing for their return.

Alf and Barbara Kyme moved from Stacksteads to Higher Walls Farm, Walls Clough, last year when Alf retired from his scrapyard business and and passed it on to his son Alf junior.

Alf enjoys sheepdog trialling and they have eight dogs on the farm which is not a working farm, but they keep hens, horses and sheep.

Barbara said: "They are the second litter for Pat who is about three years old and when she discovered they were missing she went running all over the fields looking for them.

"She is the best mum in the world but just couldn't understand where her puppies had gone."

The puppies were checked on Saturday night, but by Sunday they had vanished.

Barbara said they had been more or less weaned from their mum and would have been soon ready to be sold and they already had a buyer for one puppy, but they weren't bothered about selling the others.

She said: "The building where the were houses did not look like it had been broken into and the door was still closed

"The puppies are pedigree but they have not been registered yet and whoever has stolen them will not be able to register them because they have not got the necessary paperwork."

If anyone knows where the puppies, two bitches and three dogs, are they can contact Mrs Kyme on 01706 213684.