A leading eye expert is offering a £500 reward for the safe return of a laptop computer taken as he loaded a car at Gatwick airport.

Information stored in the computer includes patient details and vital research and information which Dr Ioannis Mavrikakis uses in presentations.

The Greek-born doctor, who lives with his partner in Landsdowne Place, Hove, is the specialist registrar in Ophthalmology at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.

The disc in the laptop contains more than 100 files concerning the latest research into eye disorders and diseases, which the doctor needs for an important lecture tour of the US starting on Wednesday.

The laptop was either taken by a thief or by accident by another passenger from a trolley on the pavement outside the departure hall at the South Terminal at 3.30pm on Friday.

He wheeled a trolley with his luggage to the departure area after arriving on a flight from Athens, where he had been meeting with some of Europes top ophthalmologists.

His partner, Harley Scott, was waiting for him in her car.

Because there were several cars loading at the same time, she could not get a parking space near the trolley so the couple loaded the car with one set of luggage and then went back for the laptop, which was in a black case.

Dr Mariachis said: "When we went back the laptop had gone from the trolley.

"It was either an opportunist thief or someone taking our luggage by mistake but nobody had seen anything.

"I am not worried about the laptop but the information stored on the discs represents years of work into the specialist world of ophthalmology. I need it for presentations. I am offering a £500 reward for the return of the discs as it is my livelihood."

Anybody who knows the whereabouts of the laptop should contact Dr Mavrikakis on 07733 358141.