© Kenny Clayton Kenny Clayton said he is unable to work without the equipment

A photographer has lost five years worth of work after thieves smashed into his car and stole irreplaceable equipment.

Professional photographer Kenny Clayton returned to his car at the NCP car park, on Store Street, to find all of his equipment had been stolen on Saturday lunchtime.

Thugs smashed the windscreen of the vehicle to get to the equipment inside.

Among the stolen items was an external hard drive containing precious family photographs and every single shoot Kenny has worked on.

The thieves also took cameras, lenses, an iMac computer, a camera light, tripods and an overnight bag with personal items inside.

Kenny, a commercial and family photographer, will no longer be able to work without the equipment.

Some of the lost images include a recent photography shoot with a Romanian family visiting a relative who moved to Wilmslow. The family booked Kenny to take photographs to celebrate the birth of a new baby.

The total cost of the stolen items is believed to be around £7,000.

Kenny, 43, told the M.E.N: "I was in the process of editing pictures of a family from Romania visiting a new baby in Wilmslow.

"It is just stuff life that I can't reshoot. It is of a time, the family have now gone away.

"I have a nine-year-old daughter and there are lots of photos of her."

He added: "Losing the equipment is heartbreaking, but it is irreplaceable, it is the stuff that is on the hard drive that is not.

"I have invested a lot of equipment and have been building my business up, it has all been taken.

"I was in bits before. I am not going to be able to do anything.

"I am a bit stuck without all of my stuff. I am gutted."

The incident has been reported to Greater Manchester Police.

Kenny is appealing for anyone with further information or who may know where the equipment is to get in contact.

Anyone with further information can contact GMP on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.