AFTER calling the families, thanking the midwives and cuddling their new arrival, the first thing most parents do is pick up the camera and start making memories.

For Great Sankey couple Karen and Dave Roberts it was no different.

They welcomed their new daughter three weeks ago and promptly filled a digital camera's memory card with images of their lovely Tanya.

But, two weeks after she was born, their camera was stolen along with all their photographs from the first days of their new daughter's life.

"I'm absolutely distraught," Karen said.

"It's just so sentimental. It's the start of my baby's life that has been robbed," she said.

The camera was taken while the family watched their five-year-old daughter Amy-Louise complete a dance exam at the Daten sports and social club in Culcheth.

"Anyone who has taken it will see the pictures and I think it is really sick of them not to hand it in.

"They must know how special the pictures are," she said.

After unsuccessfully searching the Daten club for the Panasonic digital camera Karen went to the police, who have made it a priority, she said.

"I just want the pictures back," she said.

The family are offering a reward for information that leads to the return of the camera.

Call 434109 if you have any information.

joanna.lean@guardiangrp.co.uk