A FILM fan's irreplaceable collection of movie figures has been stolen from his home.

Mark Nicholson has spent years lovingly building and painting model kits of science fiction and horror film characters, from movies such as Star Wars and Hellraiser.

His talent has led to some of his rare models being shown at the Dorman Museum, in Middlesbrough.

But thieves have broken into the loft of his home in New Marske, east Cleveland, where he stored his collection, worth £2,000 to £3,000, and taken everything.

Each of the models, including a Star Wars Stormtrooper riding a sky-bike, represents hours of painstaking work and research.

Many of the older figures are no longer produced.

The 47-year-old said: "They are made in vinyl rubber so you can cut them and pose them in different positions.

"I read books on them and watched videos to get the right colours and really researched them.

"It is not a case of a television or video, which are produced in their hundreds of thousands, being stolen. These have a sentimental value."

Mr Nicholson, who until recently ran a science fiction-themed shop in Middlesbrough, is so thorough about detail that he used his own blood to reproduce spatters of gore on the apron of a character from the Texas Chain Saw Massacre, earlier this month.

He said he would have to pay at least £200 for an unmade model of Pinhead from Hellraiser -one of the missing figures.

"What chance have I got to have the money to put them back ?" asked Mr Nicholson, a self-employed painter and decorator.

Five of the figures were recovered by police after Mr Nicholson saw them on Internet auction site e-bay, but numerous figures are still missing.

A man has been arrested and cautioned by police in connection with the items on e-bay.

Detective Sergeant Jon Green, of Redcar CID, said: "Although these items are not unique, they are very rare, and I would appeal to anyone who may have information as to their whereabouts to contact us.

"If you have seen anything like it, the chances are they are the same items."

Anyone with information is asked to call police on (01642) 302626.