A FAMILY has appealed for a thief to return once-in-a-lifetime holiday photographs featuring a seriously ill woman.

Six rolls of film featuring brothers Peter and Denis Richards and their sister, June Kennedy, were in a classic car stolen in Birkby.

June, 60, is seriously ill with diabetes and heart problems and the trip to California in March was somewhere she had always wanted to go.

Peter, 46, had popped the of film rolls in a compartment set into a central armrest in his blue, 1982 Ford Cortina Crusader.

But the car - number XNF 687X - was stolen from outside his home on Armitage Road, Birkby, early last Tuesday morning.

Peter said: "The holiday gave us so many special memories.

"We hired a car so we could visit places such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, which we flew over in a helicopter.

"When we returned home I popped the rolls of film in the car, meaning to get two sets developed. But I got sidetracked and forgot I'd left them in the car.

"We would dearly love to get them back."

Peter added: "The car is quite rare these days and is in a very nice condition, so the thieves may have stolen it to order."

June lives in Derby and Denis, 57, lives in Southend.