CAGED birds and eggs worth about £1,000 were stolen from the Lincolnsfields Centre in Bushey last week.

Fifteen pairs of love birds - including four pairs of the rare blue mask variety - a cockatoo, a budgie and the birds' eggs were stolen from an aviary at the centre in Bushey Hall Drive between Wednesday, July 19, and last Thursday.

The centre provides naturalist holidays for inner city children, and is an animal sanctuary for visitors.

General manager of the centre Mr Francis McLennan said: 'I cannot believe somebody would do this to a children's charity like us.

'We get a lot of children staying here and a lot of people coming to visit us, and some of them are going to be disappointed not to see these birds. We did not have enough money to insure the birds and we cannot afford to get any more, so they will not be replaced.'

Mr McLennan estimated the love bird pairs are worth £60, and the rare blue mask variety pairs will be worth between £90 to £100.

He believes the police will have difficulty tracking down the birds, as they would be hard to identify and will probably be sold at auction.

The police are investigating the incident. Anybody with information that may help them in their enquiries can contact officers on 020 8950 1212.