A REWARD has been offered after three Jack Russell puppies were stolen from a pensioner's garden.

Paul Whittaker-Axon has offered £200 to anyone who can provide information which leads to the trio of one dog and two bitches being found safe and well.

The puppies Bruce, Judy and Tiny were taken from a fenced off garden at Paul's 79-year-old mother's house in Cotebrook as she was recovering from a fall in which she broke her hip, arm and wrist.

Paul, a domestic appliance engineer, of Delamere, said his mum and the whole family had been upset by the incident. 'My mother is devastated now they have gone, which is why I offered a reward,' he said.

'After a few hours, if they had just got out, they would have come back. We think what's happened is somebody must have gone in there. 'We've have got a big iron gate. If anybody opened it, they used to come to you. I think somebody has opened the gate just enough to let the puppies out and quick enough before the other dogs have got to them. There are also two alsatians and a labrador.'

Mr Whittaker-Axon explained that the six-month-old puppies stayed in a pen in the garden but often wandered into the house. This was because his mother was being visited by carers four times a day and the dogs would have got in the way.

He and his partner Karen plus their 19-month-old daughter Rebecca had been thinking about adopting one of the puppies.

Mr Whittaker-Axon had contacted Northwich police when the puppies went missing but his inquiry had come to nothing.

The puppies' mother, who the family had had for 10 years, disappeared when they were aged about seven weeks.

Anyone who can help trace the puppies, who went missing between 2.20pm and 3.45pm on October 11, or the mother, is asked to ring Paul on 07976 969223.

All calls will be treated in the strictest confidence. 

- Caroline Cadwaladr, of Tarvin Sands, believes somebody is stealing Jack Russells after her two-year-old bitch was stolen from her property in July.

She said: 'I am convinced they are getting pinched. I have got another one here but she would not go to anybody. The one that was taken was very friendly.'

She said two Jack Russells were stolen from a builder's van in Beeston earlier in the year. Mrs Cadwaladr's bitch was distinctive in that she was black and tan but no white. She is offering a substantial reward.

Anyone who can help is asked to call 07811 239491.