A young mother says she has been stripped of her memories after mean burglars ransacked her home.

They stole virtually everything Sophie Womersley owned, including her children’s toys and clothes, and photos and keepsakes charting her own and her son and daughter’s early lives.

Mum-of-two Miss Womersley, 25, discovered the burglary when she went to her rented three-bedroomed semi-detached house, in Mandale Grove, Buttershaw, to check the post.

She, and her children, Harry, five, and Lydia, three, had been staying with her mother in Shipley for three months after a dispute with a neighbour left her feeling scared. She said: “I had continued to rent the house to store my belongings while I looked for somewhere else in Shipley.

“I could see straight away that someone had broken in. When I walked into the house, there was nothing there. Everything had gone. I phoned the police, but I was so shocked I couldn’t speak.”

The burglars had taken a distinctive black washing machine, dryer, fridge freezer, TV, two leather couches, a sideboard and a nest of tables. But they had also stolen personal items, including ornaments and photographs.

Miss Womersley said: “They have taken photo albums my grandmother had made of me growing up, along with baby books of my children, with scan pictures, photos in hospital and wrist bands with their names on – personal things which are no use to the thieves but are invaluable to me.

“They have even stolen the children’s toys, including Disney videos and Harry’s castle and pirate ship and figures. They have poured water on some of the loose photos and destroyed them. What they have done is so mean and it is like a personal attack. An ordinary burglar wouldn’t have done some of those things.”

She said she just wanted the personal items back, saying: “They have taken away all my personal memories.”

Police said it was believed the offence took place on Monday, January 17, between 1pm and 3.30pm. Police are investigating the sighting of two vans outside the house.

Officers also want to speak to a man who was in the area at the time.

He is described as white, with dark hair, in his 30s and spoke with a local accent.

Any witnesses, or anyone with any information, are asked to contact police on 0845 6060606, or Crime-stoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.