A Young mother is devastated after a puppy was stolen from her home in the middle of the night, just hours it was brought home for the first time.

Thieves entered the house by breaking the lock of a window, where they entered and took the puppy from her home.

The woman, 19, lives alone with her 13-month old daughter at their home in Tilbury.

She said: “We had just picked him up at around 6pm the night before, the last I saw of him was at about 1.30am when I came downstairs because he was crying.

“The next morning he was gone.

“I’m absolutely devastated about, obviously I am on my own with my daughter here and we are doing everything we can to find him and bring him home.”

The new puppy, a cross with a Staffordshire Bull Terrier was bought for the woman by her mother.

Potential witnesses have come forward to tell try and help return the animal to his new home.

The woman said: “A person called me in the afternoon and said they had seen two teenagers on the train at Tilbury station with a puppy that fitted the description of him.

“She said that they got off at West Ham. We have joined every awareness group in that area since then to find anybody who might be able to bring him back to us.”

Due to his age and that he had only just arrived at their home, the dog has not been chipped and so it has been impossible for the woman and her family to track him.

She said: “We have got back in touch with the breeder to see if they may be able to help us, but I am just so upset and I cannot believe that this has happened.”

A police search has begun to find the puppy since it went missing from the house in Tilbury.

A spokesman said: "We are investigating the theft of a puppy from an address in Tilbury.

"Between 11.30pm on Thursday, May 24 and 7.45am on Friday, May 25, entry was forced into a property on Brennan Road.

"A recently purchased puppy, described as a Staffordshire Terrier Rottweiler cross was then stolen.

"Anyone who saw any suspicious behaviour in the area at the time or who has since seen a puppy matching this description in the area, is asked to contact DC Steven Tilley at Grays CID on 101, quoting reference 42/72540/18.

"Information can also be passed completely anonymously to independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information."