A businessman today offered a £1,000 reward to catch thieves who stripped his new Mid Sussex home.

Floorboards and kitchen doors were among items taken, along with electrical equipment.

Joe O'Keefe, 51, was planning to move into a new home in Haywards Heath with his wife Carole as their children had grown up and moved out.

The pair had totally refitted the kitchen and were about to start redecorating before moving in within the next couple of months.

Mr O'Keefe went to the house in Farlington Avenue to find everything had been stolen.

The brand new oven and hob, washing machine and other kitchen appliances, along with expensive power tools to use for decorating had gone.

Even the doors and flooring had been taken from the kitchen.

Mr O'Keefe, from Newick, who runs a shop-fitting company, believes the thieves made off with items worth more than £3,000.

He said: "I just couldn't believe my eyes. Everything was gone. They must have driven a van to the house and packed it up. It's a huge amount of money to lose.

"My wife and I were planning to renovate the house so we had decorative wooden flooring waiting to be put down.

"We had just bought the house and were really looking forward to building a new home."

Mr O'Keefe said he decided to put up the reward because he thinks there is a good chance someone on the estate saw something suspicious.

Police believe the burglars struck on the night of Monday, October 28.