An appeal to trace six stolen puppies, apparently being held for a £4,000 ransom, has gone viral with more than 70,000 hits.

Burglars struck at Sue Binden’s kennels in Cock Clarks, taking three male and three female eight-week-old pedigree German Shepherd puppies.

Daughter Jade, 25, says the family has since received threatening calls and text messages from someone claiming they have the puppies.

That person is demanding £4,000 and has threatened to "torment" the animals.

The family also received a phonecall on Monday from another person claiming to have the puppies and demanding £600.

Despite this, the Bindens are hopeful that they will see the puppies again.

More than 71,000 have shared Jade’s original appeal on Facebook.

Jade said: “We are overwhelmed with the level of support and can’t believe how far this has travelled.

“We have had many calls, messages and emails of support.”

They were in an outdoor kennel broken into sometime between 10.30pm last Wednesday and 7am the following day.