A distraught mum is urging callous thieves to return irreplaceable videos capturing the lives of her young children.

Mother-of-four Farzana Bi, 34, has had hours of film footage of the early years of her sons and daughter stolen.

She started filming after the birth of her first child, Hamza Shafique, now 15, and had filmed birthday parties, trips out and important landmarks like the first time the children walked and their first day at school.

But the camcorder and collection of videos were stolen from an upstairs office at Mrs Bi’s home in Maidstone Street, Bradford Moor, Bradford, while she was away on holiday.

The raiders smashed their way in through a UPVC door and broke down locked interior doors in what appeared to be a targeted burglary.

Laptops and a digital camera were also stolen, but Mrs Bi said she was only concerned for the return of the videos.

“They are really, really important to me. I can’t replace them,” she said. “The films recorded memories of my life with my children and other members of my family and cannot be replicated. They are my children’s life stories and are precious to me.”

Mrs Bi began the filming when Hamza was only hours old and has since also captured important moments in the lives of Sara, 12, Adam, seven, and two-year-old Zain.

She added: “I have lost everything. Whoever has got them, or anyone who knows where they are, I would just ask them to return them. They can put them through my letter box, or leave them anonymously at a police station, or give them to somebody else to return. I just need them back.”

The burglary happened between 1pm on April 1 and 4.40am on April 3.

Detective Sergeant Matthew Kennedy said: “This has been particularly upsetting for the victim as the recordings on the camera were personal to the family and clearly cannot be replaced.

“Offences of this nature are particularly intrusive and carry with them significant emotional impact.

“I would therefore call on anyone who can help us identify those responsible for this burglary to come forward.

“Likewise, it is possible that the offenders have tried to sell on these electrical items in the local area and we would like to hear from anyone who has been approached.

“CCTV inquiries are ongoing. Anyone who can assist should contact Bradford South Police on the non emergency number 101, or Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555111.”