POLICE have released a CCTV image of a man they would like to speak to in connection with a distraction burglary.

A man was delivering takeaway leaflets in Surtees Street, Darlington, on Monday, August 22, when a laptop computer was stolen from a home.

The homeowner heard a noise at the letterbox at 4.20pm. When she went to the front door, she saw a man with a child in a black pushchair.

The man, who said he was delivering leaflets, asked for a drink of water for his daughter. The woman closed the door while she fetched a glass of water, but when she returned the child refused it.

Instead, the man drank the water and handed the glass back to the woman. After she returned the glass to the kitchen, she noticed that her front door was open and her laptop had been taken from the sitting room. A takeaway shop's leaflet had been left on the front doormat.

The man is described as of medium build, white, 6ft 1in to 6ft 2in and between 30 and 40.

He had closely-cropped, blonde hair and was wearing a grey T-shirt and blue jeans.

The child had long curly, brown hair and was two or three. She was wearing pink dungarees.

The image was taken on security cameras at Darlington Job Centre. The victim believed she saw the same man later that day.

Anyone who can help identify either the man or child is asked to contact Darlington CID on 0345-60-60-365, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800-555-111.