A FARNHAM builder spotted burglars making off in his son’s Mercedes and gave chase, just minutes before arriving home to find his house ransacked and his family’s treasured war medals stolen.

Darren Jackson, of DS Jackson Construction, was driving home to Lower Weybourne Lane from M&J roofing merchants in Tongham at around 4.20pm on Tuesday, February 13, when he saw a grey Mercedes C220 Coupe passing in the opposite direction in St George’s Road.

Recognising the £12,000 car as belonging to his son, but not the driver, Darren said he did a “double take” and turned around to give chase - but unfortunately by the time he had completed the manoeuvre the Mercedes had disappeared.

Worried for his dogs, Darren returned home and found the thieves had smashed through his rear bi-fold patio doors and gone through every room of his house, emptying draws and stealing jewellery, several small electrical items and both sets of keys to his son’s car.

But most painful for Darren was the loss of his granddad’s and uncle’s treasured Second World War medals - including his uncle’s Eighth Army Italy Star, Africa Star and Europe campaign medals given to Darren as a teenager - as well as an original First World War trench knife.

He called Surrey Police and forensics officers came out later that night to search for evidence. But over a week later, Darren said he has not heard from the force since, and has taken it upon himself to ask local businesses for CCTV footage.

He told the Herald: “The worst thing was that I saw them but couldn’t turn around quick enough to catch them - and that if I hadn’t gone to the builders merchants after work I probably would have found them at home.”

Surrey Police had not responded to the Herald’s request for a comment as the paper went to press.

The burglary in Lower Weybourne Lane was followed by at least three further break-ins in Wrecclesham and Shortheath this week - coming just weeks after the Herald reported an upsurge in offences in the rural area to the south of the town in mid-February.

In the early hours of Monday (February 19) a home in St Peter’s Gardens, Wrecclesham was targeted while its occupants were asleep.

And later on Monday, sometime between 12.25pm and 1.35pm, thieves also smashed through the rear patio door of a home in Shortheath Road on the corner of Ford Lane.

Homeowner Jacoba Murray, an assistant at St Andrew’s School in Farnham, said three high quality cameras were stolen, including one worth £1,800, as well as her son’s camera with a lot of precious photos stored on the memory card.

The thieves also took her husband’s cufflinks and a pin commemorating his 25 years membership of the Golden Keys society of concierges, money and several engraved watches.

“But my main concern is that somebody has come uninvited into our home,” Jacoba added. “The police think the thieves were wearing gloves, which strangely I’m pleased about because it means overtime I touch a door knob I’m not thinking that I’m in some way touching them.”

Jacoba said her home was only unoccupied for around an hour, and one witness claims seeing a blue van parked outside her house at the time of the raid.

Another home in Kiln Lane was also reportedly targeted an hour later on Monday, with the homeowner reporting in Facebook that a “fair amount of jewellery” was taken, “all of huge sentimental value”.

Other residents in the Wrecclesham area have reported suspicious men knocking on doors and offering ‘window cleaning’ services long after dark this week. Anyone with information about any of the above offences can call Surrey Police on 101.