VIDEO: Flat burglars '˜destroyed lives' of distraught couple

Nancie Tossell was at work on Monday, January 8 when her landlord called to say her flat in St George’s Road, Worthing had been burgled.

She rushed back home and saw that the main door of the building had been forced open – but it did not prepare her for what was inside.

The door to her flat had been ‘completely smashed in’ using a shovel from the basement, and her home of four years with her partner Alex Purssell had been turned upside down.

The 29-year-old said: “It was completely trashed. Every drawer had been opened, every cupboard searched. The Virgin box and reuter had been disconnected, and our lamps were on the floor.

“I was devastated, distraught, upset. Someone has invaded our privacy – they have come into our home and completely obliterated it.”

Sussex Police said the flat was targeted between 7.50am and 2.40pm. Around £5,000 of personal belongings, including jewellery given to her by her grandparents Christine and Brian, had been taken, and one of their 12-month-old kittens Diego and Kiara went missing but was later found in the building.

The keys to the couple’s BMW and Seat cars were stolen, and the vehicles had to be clamped while the locks and ignition were replaced, a job costing £1,200.

Nancie believed the culprits had been watching them prior to the incident. She said they will be moving because of the trauma: “I hope they are happy with what they have done. They have destroyed our lives.”

Forensics experts told her the burglars wore gloves and hats during the raid, so there were no fingerprints. And on Thursday, Nancie was told her case had been closed by the police. She said she was ‘infuriated, let down, and very upset’ by the news.

A police spokesman said: "We are appealing for any witnesses, especially anyone who heard anything around that time as it is thought the noise of the break-in would have been quite loud.

"Anyone with information is asked to report online at https://sussex.police.uk/appealresponse or call 101 quoting serial 643 of 08/01."