A furniture store is offering a reward to anyone who can help recover two beloved bay trees which were stolen from outside its premises.

Staff at Hilary and Alice in Diss locked up the shop on Park Road at around 5pm on Wednesday, August 3 and returned at 8.30am the following morning to discover the two large trees, which flanked the front door, had been snatched overnight.

Now manager Pam Lawton is knocking on wood in hopes of the trees' safe return.

Staff member Mary Lambert said: 'We're just sad that this has happened and we hope other shops in the area are not affected by these kind of opportunists.

'We are now having to bring all our plants inside, we don't dare leave them anywhere outside.

'We also used to display furniture outside when it was sunny, but now we are a bit wary of doing that.'

Hilary and Alice are offering a £100 gift voucher in return for the bay trees' return, or any information about their whereabouts.

The shop, which has been open since March, specialises in furniture up-cycling. Ms Lambert said the staff were confused by the theft, adding: 'We thought, why would someone do this?

'They are just trees, but we liked them because they made the shop front look nice.'

Norfolk Police have made an appeal for witnesses who may have seen anything in the area overnight between August 3 and 4.

Please call 101 quoting reference 36/53056/1 with any information.