Shocked postman Malcolm Airey returned from his wife's ten-hour brain tumour operation to find their home had been ransacked by vandals.

The 40-year-old husband had been at his wife's bedside while burglars tore through their home in Bolton, Bradford.

He returned to his Botany Avenue house to find windows smashed and furniture strewn all over the lounge.

Mr Airey believes the culprits had some knowledge of what was inside because they stole a guitar from his stepsons' bedroom but did not even look in any of the other upstairs rooms.

"Just imagine how bad it is to go through a burglary when everything else is normal, never mind when your wife is having a brain tumour removed. I'm absolutely disgusted, and it's even worse because I think it is someone who either knows us or the house by the way they've gone about it."

His wife Susan, 48, was undergoing an operation at Leeds General Infirmary to have 25 per cent of the tumour removed when the raiders struck. Mr Airey said: "She was only diagnosed with the tumour about three weeks ago and will have to go back to have the rest of it taken out.

"This has to have been the worst few weeks of our lives. Neither me nor my stepsons, Daniel and Stephen Brook, can believe what's happened.

"Susan was due back today. I wanted to tell her about the burglary before she came home just in case it made her worse. I wanted her to be in the best place possible if this did happen."

He appealed to the intruders: "Please just give us back what you have stolen."

A spokeswoman for West Yorkshire Police urged anyone with information to come forward. She said the burglars had stolen CDs, a hi-fi, video recorder and vacuum cleaner during last Friday's incident which took place between 3pm and 9.45pm.

If you can help, ring 01274 723422 or CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111.