A LIFT firm is appealing for the return of a host of commemorative medals stolen in a raid 30 years ago.

Pickerings Europe, of Stockton, is "desperate'' for the return of the medals which thieves stole during an office break-in.

The medals were made to commemorate 19th Century trade exhibitions.

Company chairman Donald Fothergill has pledged that no questions will be asked if they are returned.

Cleveland Police have been told of the amnesty offer.

Officials at the company are compiling its history and putting together a commemorative video and they want the medals back to feature in it.

The company was founded in 1854, following the invention of the revolutionary Pickerings Pulley Block, around the time Charles Dickens finished writing A Christmas Carol and British troops were fighting on the Alma in the Crimea.

The stolen export medals were struck in 1874, 1876 and 1888 and awarded for the excellence of patents and the quality of the product shown at trade exhibitions at Bremen, Philadelphia and Amsterdam in those respective years.

"They're of no value to anyone except Pickerings and we desperately want them back to help us complete our company video. They're the final pieces in our jigsaw,'' said Mr Fothergill.

"If they were returned to us by post of simply dropped off at reception no questions would be asked and no action would follow.

"I would hate to think that they're collecting dust at the back of a drawer or could be thrown out as junk by someone who doesn't appreciate their value to the company which won them so long ago.''

The only reminder the firm has of the medals is a photograph of them hanging in the boardroom.

A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said: "We do hope these medals are returned to their lawful owner. They are obviously valued by the firm.''