BURGLARS have targeted the home of a retired musician, helping themselves to £26,000-worth of top of the range electrical goods.

The flat in the Stanhope Road area of Darlington was broken into and over 20 items of audio and video equipment stolen.

The burglary took place at some point between the afternoon of March 31 and the morning of April 4.

The flat was unoccupied at the time of the incident, but belongs to a man in his Eighties who is believed to be in ill-health.

Police are appealing for anyone who may have seen the items for sale to contact them urgently.

Among the items stolen were a pair of hand-crafted Magneplanar speakers, believed to be one of only thirty pairs in the country, which are valued at £7,000.

The speakers are almost six feet tall and weigh 145 pounds, and detectives said that they would not have been easy to remove.

Also taken were a 52-inch Panasonic plasma television, worth £1,300, an NAD M3 integrated amplifier, worth £2,700, a Nakamishi cassette deck, worth £1,000, a Roksan turntable and a Shanling cd player, worth £4,000 each.

Other items stolen were a bow-fronted Chinese cabinet with a curved, glass-fronted door, worth £1,500, a Transfiguration Spirit 3 cartridge, worth £1,000, a £600 computer tower unit and Sony radio tuner worth £700.

Detective constable Nev Price, of Darlington CID, said the items stolen were of such a specialist nature that should they be offered for sale they were bound to stand out.

He added: "The burglars have removed more than 20 pieces of equipment from the flat, almost all of them top of the range electrical goods.

"We are keen to hear from anyone who might have heard of these items recently being offered for sale or even being stored away."

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Darlington CID on 0345-6060365, or anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800-555-111.