A BURGLAR stole hundreds of pounds from a piggybank being used to save up for a dream holiday...without smashing it open.

Owner Kayleigh Sandell, 21, was shocked when she broke open her piggybank and found it empty, when it should have contained about £800.

Her home, in Dalmatia Road, Southchurch, Southend, was burgled and the cash stolen, along with her late grandmother’s rings. Now with just four weeks to go to come up with £1,200 for her holiday in New York, Ms Sandell is trying to sell clothes and other possessions so she can still go away.

The Iceland supermarket worker said she had been saving hard for eight months, adding: “I’m gutted. I’m trying to sell clothes to get some money back. I’m selling shoes, a rowing machine an exercise bike and my Wii.

“So far I have got back £100. I haven’t got much to sell but it will at least be something.”

The gold wedding ring and gold solitaire diamond ring on a gold band had been passed on via to Ms Sandell’s mum, Tracey Green, by her gran, Sylvia Wilson, who died ten years ago aged 83.

Her mum said: “I didn’t wear them because I didn’t want to lose them.

“I still have pictures of my grandmother everywhere. We spent a lot my childhood together and it’s all very upsetting.

“I’m trying not to think about the fact they are gone, I am just focusing on Kayleigh, and trying to raise money for her.”

The burglary happened some time between noon on August 8, and 5.30pm on August 15.

Neighbours say saw a greyhaired man in her house.

Anyone with information about the break-in, or the rings, is asked to call police on 101.