Mum Michelle Ponting has made a desperate plea for the return of £900 worth of her children's belongings - stolen from the boot of her car.

Mrs Ponting's children - Lewis, 12, Justine, 12, Jessica, ten, Dominic, eight, and Amie, three - were devastated by the theft, at Abingdon's Barrow Hill recreation ground, last week.

The family, of Bowbank, Longworth, stopped-off at the recreation ground, in Audlett Drive, on their way to Oxford for a three-day stay at Mrs Ponting's father-in-law's house.

But while the children were playing, thieves broke into the family's Montego estate in the car park and stole virtually all their packed clothes and belongings from the boot.

Belongings included;

*A Sony PlayStation and five games

*A Goodman personal CD player and holder

*A Halina camera

*Adidas and Reebok trainers

*Justine's history course-work

*Tracksuits, sweat-shirts and backpacks. Mrs Ponting, 31, hopes to trace Oxford Mail readers who may have come into contact with the stolen belongings.

She said: "We were only at the recreation ground for an hour-and-a-half but when we got back to the car almost everything was gone.

"These were Christmas presents and things that cannot be replaced. There were also things that the children had bought themselves.

She added: "My children are extremely upset. My little girl was worried sick about going back to school because she had not done her coursework over the holidays. If anyone's child has said someone is selling a cheap PlayStation, I would like them to contact me first. Someone has got to have gone home with these items."

Anyone with information about the theft, which happened last Wednesday, should contact Abingdon police on 01235 555959.

Story date: Wednesday 24 February

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.