By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-08-20 04:55:55 | Updated at 2026-08-20 05:10:24
14 minutes ago
A family who were forced to flee their house during last week's wildfires finally returned home to discover their prized jewellery had been stolen.
Last Thursday, fires ripped through Stourbridge in the West Midlands in scenes compared to a horror movie or apocalypse.
Witnesses said ash had rained down for hours and described how the flames "jumped from house to house".
Residents grabbed what they could and ran for it, with refuge centres set up at the town hall and at St Michael's Church in Norton.
But with local homes empty until Sunday, burglars are believed to have moved in.
West Midlands Police last night released images of six different items thought to have been stolen in Stourbridge.
The homeowner was one of those evacuated on the day of the fire and they then returned home over the weekend to find items missing, including jewellery, watches and a coin collection, police said.
Two pairs of cufflinks, a ring, two pocket watches and a wristwatch all vanished after the fires.
Last Thursday, fires ripped through Stourbridge in the West Midlands in scenes compared to a horror movie
PA
The burglary took place on Racecourse Lane, detectives said, and it was thought to have happened in the last week.
CCTV footage was being examined and house-to-house inquiries were being carried out, with uniformed and plainclothes patrols in and around the area, a spokesman added.
Police also issued an appeal for the public to get in touch if they see any of the items being sold on the internet by calling 101 quoting crime reference 20/367823/26.
On Monday Angela Rayner visited the burnt-out remains of homes in Stourbridge, describing scenes as "absolutely horrendous".
West Midlands Police issued an appeal to try and track down the stolen jewellery
WEST MIDLANDS POLICE
The Housing Secretary could be seen walking among the shells of houses on Quarry Park Road following the huge blaze - which destroyed 19 homes in total.
"The community have been exceptional, looking out for each other," Ms Rayner said.
"But it is devastating to see the level of damage and the emotional turmoil of losing everything, and that’s what these families have gone through."
A group of heroic women risked their lives to save multiple horses from a burning field in Stourbridge at the height of the wildfire.
A group of heroic women risked their lives to save multiple horses from a burning field in Stourbridge
One, Charlotte Griffith from the Sugarloaf Equestrian Centre, told GB News how due to the sheer size of the blaze, the animals would have died had they been stuck there any longer.
"Within seconds, the field was gone... It was just engulfed with the smoke and the fire, it was awful," she said. "If we'd left the horses in there any longer, they would have ended up getting burned."
Evacuees in Stourbridge were finally allowed to return to view their properties on Sunday, Dudley Borough Council said.
Some 13 households whose properties were partially damaged in the blaze have been able to return completely, the authority's chief executive Balvinder Heran told locals.
More than £125,000 has so far been raised through crowd-funding efforts for those affected by major fires in Stourbridge, Birmingham, Pershore and Stoke-on-Trent.
