Man wanting to buy broken gold took himself on tour of Honiton home and items he looked at were later discovered missing.

Gold chain links have been stolen from a Honiton home following, what police are describing as, an unusual burglary.

The items were stolen after the owner refused to sell them to a man offering to buy broken jewellery.

Now a warning has been issued, advising householders not to act on leaflets offering to buy gold and not to let anyone into their homes.

The burglary occurred in Kings Terrace on January 31.

Police say a resident let a man into her home after saying she may have some broken jewellery.

The man then took himself on a tour of the house.

He located three heavy gold chain links, which the victim refused to sell, and then the man left.

Later on, the victim discovered the items were missing.

A police spokesman said: “Police are aware that there have been numerous leaflet drops locally relating to gold buyers, offering ‘top prices’.

“We suggest that anyone who has received one of these leaflets does not act upon the offer, and certainly does not let anyone into their home, and to contact police if they are suspicious about anyone going door-to-door offering to buy gold.”

Anyone with any information is asked to call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 quoting crime reference KH/12/98.