Monkey business: Police hunt for stolen gorilla statue

Police are appealing for information leading to the recovery of a life-size gorilla statue stolen from a Staffordshire car park.

The resin model had been on display outside a furniture store in Burton for about eight weeks before it was poached, and had been visible to passing motorists.

Police said the object's size would have made it difficult for thieves to transport it.

Inspector Bob Champeau of East Staffs Local Policing Team said: "It's life sized so whoever took him would have struggled to get him in an ordinary car.

"It's also not the sort of thing that can be hidden easily so we're hoping someone may have seen something.

"His owners are keen to have him back as soon as possible so please, get in touch if you know anything."

The gorilla was taken some time between 12:50 pm and 4:45 pm on Tuesday, police said.

Anyone with any information is asked to ring 101 quoting incident 77 of 9 November.