New leads on 'Friend' family raid

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CCTV footage of a burglar at Doreen Lofthouse's home

Detectives investigating a robbery at the home of the owners of the Fisherman's Friend lozenge empire, have said a TV appeal had been useful.

A reconstruction of the raid at Tony and Doreen Lofthouse's home in Thornton Cleveleys in March was broadcast on the BBC's Crimewatch on Thursday night.

Following the programme, 30 calls were received with many "useful leads", a police spokeswoman confirmed.

The robbers stole jewellery, cash and Mrs Lofthouse's MBE and OBE.

Described as a "premeditated and carefully planned robbery", those involved have never been caught.

Doreen Lofthouse's OBE is among the items stolen

But police believe their investigation may be making progress, with witnesses ringing the BBC programme saying they had seen certain cars acting suspiciously in the area at the time of the robbery.

Other police forces have also said they had robberies in their area carried out in a similar way, and some callers said they recognised the offenders captured on CCTV outside the millionaires' home.

The couple were ranked 491st in the 2008 Sunday Times Rich List.

Mr Lofthouse was involved in a "brief struggle" with the robbers during the attack on 20 March but both he and his wife were not seriously hurt.

They were locked in the bathroom until the arrival of a gardener on Saturday morning, who raised the alarm.

The stolen property includes diamond-drop earrings with four kite-shaped diamonds, a solitaire diamond ring, a Bueche girod wristwatch and a Fisherman's Friend gold lozenge mounted in a frame.

Fisherman's Friend was originally developed by Fleetwood pharmacist James Lofthouse in 1865 and remains a family firm.