A couple have been left “fuming” after raiders stole birds worth more than £1,000 from their aviary and garden shed.

Rose Bryant, 56, of the Poplars, Pitsea, woke yesterday to find all the birds belonging to her partner, Charles Matthews, had disappeared.

The couple kept up to 50 goldfinches, greenfinches, zebra finches, canaries and siskins in their garden.

Ms Bryant said a lock on the aviary door had been cut. She said: “I went to bed at about 3am and everything was fine.

"When I woke at 10am, the birds had all gone.

“The siskins were kept in the aviary.

“The other birds were kept in cages in my shed. The shed wasn’t locked, but I shouldn’t have to lock it – it’s in my garden.

“I reckon they knew exactly what they were looking for. I think we must have had more than a grand’s worth of birds in there.”

She estimated the goldfinches were worth up to £200 a pair and they owned three of the birds. They also had between 15 and 20 greenfinches, worth about £40 each.

Ms Bryant hopes some of the birds can be recovered after people started posting pictures of zebra finches in Basildon on social media.

She believes they may have escaped in the raid.

She said the birds were Mr Matthews’ “pride and joy” as he had been keeping birds as a hobby for more than a decade.

She said: “They certainly meant a lot to him. He’s coming back from work as a lorry driver early because of it all.

"He loves his birds.

“I am fuming, how dare people do this?

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw it this morning. I thought “what the hell has gone on here?”

“My back gate was wide open.”

Anyone with information should call police on 101.