Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland are appealing to the public for information following the theft of up to 30 rare and valuable antique accordions from a house in Co Down on Monday.

The owner of the instruments was visited at his home in Comber by two men last Saturday who said they were interested in buying an accordion for a relative. The man agreed to meet them in West Belfast on Monday afternoon to discuss the deal further but they did not show up.

The man returned to his house around 6.30pm to find that his motor home had been stolen and his house burgled, with jewellery of sentimental value and up to thirty antique accordions taken.

Police said the stolen instruments were worth "a considerable amount of money", some of which date back to the 1950s. They believe they could have left Northern Ireland and have released photographs of similar accordions in a hope they can be recovered and returned to their owner.

A spokesperson for Newtownards Police Station said the items were rare and specialist.

“They are not the sort of thing you would normally see in a pawn shop or being offered for sale door to door or even on web sites,” he said. “You would not pay a couple of hundred pounds for an instrument like this and anyone who wanted one knows what they are looking for and knows a reputable seller.”

The PSNI are appealing to anyone with information on the whereabouts of the instruments or who is offered something similar for sale in suspicious circumstances to contact them.

They are also looking to speak to the two men, who are described as having Southern Irish accents. Both were aged between 40 and 50, of slim build and wearing casual clothes.

The motor home was a 6-berth white Fiat Ducato, which detectives believe may have already left Northern Ireland.