ASIAN heritage gold thought to have been stolen from homes in East Lancashire has been recovered by police.

Officers have released images of the jewellery, which includes decorative earrings, bangles, an ingot and a pendant, in a bid to reunite them with their owners.

The items, which are worth thousands of pounds, were found at a jewellers in Blackpool after a man tried to sell them.

But Det Insp Eric Halford, from Lancashire police’s target team, said it was believed the gold had been taken in burglaries at homes in Blackburn or in the Pennine area of Lancashire.

He said: “We cannot pinpoint where the jewellery may have come from and we are hoping when somebody sees the pictures, it will jog their memory straight away.

“The jewellery is quite distinctive and it is often very sentimental. It is given for weddings and it probably means a lot to somebody.”

The earrings which were recovered are plain gold in design and the pendant has green and red coloured gems.

 

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There are also two gold bangles. Those items are all 22 carat gold and thought to be worth £580 to £650.

The 24 carat ingot is valued between £2,500 and £3,000, Blackburn councillor Parwaiz Akhtar said it was likely the jewellery would be very sentimental.

He said: “Usually it is custom and tradition when a son or daughter gets married to give gold, although it is different in everybody’s family.

“In some cases, the jewellery has been passed down from generation to generation and it would be very high carat gold.

“To have it stolen would not be a very nice thing to go through and hopefully this jewellery will be reunited with whoever it belongs to.”

Det Insp Halford also encouraged residents not to keep high value items in their homes, but to put them in a bank or community safety deposit box.

A 23-year-old man from Blackpool has been arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation and is on police bail.

Anybody with information about a burglary or who recognises any of the items should call 101 or 01254 353985.