POLICE believe the same burglar has struck twice in a week in Yarmouth Street, Haslingden.

Witnesses have given similar descriptions of a man seen in the area on both occasions.

After the second break-in, police recovered a dark brown leather bomber jacket, which he may have been wearing, on land behind the house.

In the pocket was a pair of brown leather driving gloves.

Also found at the scene was a blue Mizuno sports bag containing a pair of 27 inch waist Amigo jeans, a brown leather belt with the name Adrian Green written on the inside, a blue Reebok T-shirt, a blue nylon Adidas training top size 38-40, a navy Champion sweatshirt, several pairs of white sports socks and an Aiwa personal cassette player.

In the cassette was a tape with Zone written on one side and Boxing Day on the other. DC Andy Cooper of Rossendale CID, said police believed the sports bag and contents were stolen rather than the property of the burglar.

The man they are seeking is aged about 30 with dark brown short hair, dark bushy eyebrows, dark stubble and a flushed, angry expression. He was wearing a leather jacket and baggy jeans.

The second break-in happened at the weekend while the owners were away on holiday and the amount of stolen property is still being assessed.

But jewellery found in the leather jacket pocket has been identified by the owners as theirs.

The burglar was disturbed on this occasion but last week police believe he made a lengthy search of a house on the opposite side of the road and made off with a video recorder and £5,000 worth of jewellery.

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