Caring aunt Sue Bala is hot on the trail of thieves after a snowman was snatched from her garden.

Sue spent three hours helping her nephew and niece Thomas, 11, and seven-year-old Jessica Jaitly build 3ft Frostie.

But the youngsters were devastated when he was taken from the front garden in South Shields, Tyneside.

Thomas and Jessica, of Cobham, Surrey, were staying with their aunt for Christmas and it was the first time they had played in enough snow to build a snowman.

All that is left of Frostie are his eyes and nose and a few pasta buttons near the garden gate. Luckily, Thomas and Jessica have a few photos as cherished mementoes.

Thomas said: "It was sad that he was taken after we spent so much time building him, but we think he's still alive in another garden.

"He probably looks a bit different now as he starts to melt."

Aunt Sue had thought about calling in police - but the trail had gone cold, and Frostie looks just like thousands of other snowmen across the country, so he would have been hard to pick out.

But Sue, an equal opportunities worker, has not given up hope that he is still around.

She said: "Whoever took Frostie must have been quite strong because he was quite a big snowman. There were footprints leaving the garden where Frostie had been and just a green patch of grass.

"Whoever has him might have given him a new look to try and disguise who he really is."