Thieves steal rare porcelain dolls and model train equipment from Ely home

A homeowner has been left devastated after a set of irreplaceable porcelain dolls and hundreds of pounds worth of rare model train equipment was stolen in a raid on a house in Ely.

June Barfield, 78, said she didn’t hold out hope of ever seeing the dolls again after callous thieves stole them from her conservatory.

Raiders forced their way into June’s garage, in Mawson Close, in the early hours of April 22 and helped themselves to more than £200 of model train equipment before breaking into her conservatory.

There, they stole four porcelain dolls which were unique, made especially for June and worth more than £400. A dustbin was also taken and used to transport the stolen items from the scene.

June believes that the items were stolen to order by the thieves.

Although her insurance company has agreed to pay out for her loss, June says the dolls and models were irreplaceable.

She said: “My son woke me up early on Tuesday morning to tell me they had broken into the garage and a large quantity of his model train layout had been stolen. Some of it was original Hornby, it was very collectable and very rare.

“Just to make it worse, they got into my conservatory and they stole four dolls. They don’t make like that any more, they are one offs and were made especially for me. I believe they have been stolen to order, someone knew I had them.

“Of course I’d love to have them all back but I don’t expect for one moment that I will ever see them again. I just want to make people aware in case they are offered them or they see them.”

If you have any information about the theft, contact Cambridgeshire police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.