A widow has condemned thieves who are taking toys belonging to her autistic children.

Karen Fletcher, 40, says Aaron, five, and Ben, three, are devastated because toys, including their slide, sandpit and tractor, have been stolen from the back garden of their home in Wyke in three separate incidents.

The youngsters, pictured with their mum, have to be supervised 24 hours a day and any outdoor playing has to be confined to the garden.

Aaron, left, who will be going to Greenfields Special School in Idle in the autumn, has limited speech, but Ben has serious communication problems and can only 'talk' through gestures and sign language.

"Both of them have been very distressed since they discovered their toys, especially their slide, had been taken," said Mrs Fletcher.

"I am having to put things in concrete just to keep them safe.

"My children have not just been robbed of what is rightfully theirs, but they have been robbed of their only means of outdoor play and amusement.

"They have both been crying, and Ben keeps walking over to where the slide used to be and pointing. I want to end the heartache that these callous thieves are causing my two young children."

The youngsters were diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder shortly after the death of their father Chris in 1999.

Mr Fletcher, 46, a long distance lorry driver, was found dead in his lorry near Sollihull. He had been suffering from a heart condition which could have been inherited from his father who also died at 46.

Karen was left to cope with the two boys on her own and says the job has been made harder to bear by those who take the toys which keep her children entertained.

"Sometimes it really is quite hard to cope. They are both live wires and take a lot of looking after.

"I haven't reported it to the police because I'm not going to get the toys back but I just want the thieves to know the pain they are causing."

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "Unless these incidents are reported, we cannot do anything about it and I would encourage her to get in touch so that we can investigate the matter and try to prevent it happening again."