£40,000 raid at Anthea's home

£40,000 raid at Anthea's home

The burglars may have been in the house for up to an hour

Burglars have raided the home of Anthea Turner and husband Grant Bovey and escaped with jewels and clothes worth £40,000.

The thieves may have been in the couple's £3.5m Surrey mansion for up to an hour before they were disturbed by Mr Bovey, say police.

The couple had returned from an outing to watch Comic Relief and other programmes on television.

Mr Bovey called police after discovering the burglars had barricaded an upstairs bedroom at the house in the village of Dunsfold, near Guildford, on Friday night.

Police sniffer dogs

A Surrey Police spokesman said: "We received a call from Mr Bovey saying he had returned home to find intruders on the premises. He called 999 but they made off.

"Clothing and jewellery were taken in the break-in."

Despite a search with police dogs in the extensive grounds, the thieves - who took designer suits, watches, a Tiffany brooch and other items - were not found.

The couple were said to be shocked and upset.

Security cameras

Police said any footage of the burglars caught on the property's CCTV cameras would be examined.

"Many properties like this do have security cameras and any tapes would be taken by CID as a matter of course, should they prove to be useful evidence," said a police spokesman.

It is not the first time Ms Turner has been a victim of crime.

Police were called to investigate the defacing of five copies of the television presenter's autobiography, which described how "an ordinary girl from Staffordshire came to land on Planet Fame".