A pregnant woman was today devastated after thieves stole pictures of her first baby's scan.

The thugs broke into Anna-Leigh Palfrey's car, a Honda 4x4, when it was in the Nunn's Road NCP car-park in Colchester.

They smashed their way in through a window and snatched a brown designer bag from under the seat, containing the precious pictures.

Mrs Palfrey, 22, who is eight months pregnant and lives in Thorncroft Gardens, High Woods, said: "At first I thought 'oh no not again' because our old car was broken into in February. Then it slowly dawned on me that the bag had gone and what was in it.

"I burst into tears, I was so upset. We searched all the bins nearby in case it had been dumped. There was no money in it. But those pictures are irreplaceable. I just wan't them back."

The theft has not only marred her pregnancy but also spoilt the run-up to Anna-Leigh and her husband Clive's first wedding anniversary, this weekend.

The pictures were in a brown envelope and included snaps of several scans, at 12 weeks, 20 weeks and more to determine the sex of the baby, which is a boy due on October 31.

The theft has been reported to police but above all she wants the photos returned.

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