A SALISBURY teacher who was woken up by burglars crashing around her city centre home is offering a cash reward for anyone who can return a laptop they stole that has huge sentimental value.

Lucy Edwards, aged 52, had just gone to bed in her Wyndham Road property at about 2.30am last Thursday, when she was woken by footsteps downstairs.

"I assumed it was my daughter going to the bathroom, but I heard more footsteps a little while later and then a crash downstairs," Lucy told the Journal.

"I got out of bed and headed down a couple of stairs and saw the door was open, and there was a man at the end of the driveway heading away from the house.

"I was still hearing crashes from the kitchen, so I knew there was still someone there.

"I just screamed really loudly to scare them off, but also it was a natural reaction."

As Lucy, who teaches at Godolphin, reached the bottom of the stairs, a second man ran past her and into the road.

She went to check on her 17-year-old daughter, Iso Norris, who had been woken by the commotion, and told her the house had been burgled.

It was later that night that they discovered Iso's laptop had been stolen, including all of her A-Level work.

Lucy said, although losing their work would be distressing to any student, it was particularly hard for Iso, who has had "a traumatic three years" and found solace in the schoolwork.

"It's tragic. This is her life, it's so important to her," Lucy said.

"She put all her efforts into [that work]. It's not just any student's laptop.

"We will do anything to try and get it back."

Lucy is offering a £250 cash reward for Iso's laptop.

It is a 13-inch, silver Apple Macbook Air, that had three Lacrosse STX stickers on the back (which may have now been removed).

The laptop was in a hardback, black envelope-style case made by Thule.

"My fear is that people won't come forward because they feel that they might be implicated," Lucy said.

"Even coming forward anonymously, or handing it to the police, we will get the money to you.

"The money is coming from me - it's nothing to do with the police."

On the night, Lucy said officers from Wiltshire Police were at the house within 10 minutes, with everything from a forensic team to support officers.

"They were phenomenal," she said. "I cannot praise them enough, they were amazing."

Two men were arrested on suspicion of burglary but later released with no further action.

PC Jack Billington, from Salisbury Police, said: “We need anyone who may have witnessed anything suspicious in that area, around that time, to come forward and let us know.

“Any detail, no matter how small, could be really useful to us.

"Burglary is a really devastating crime and leaves the victims feeling extremely vulnerable in the one place they should feel the most safe.”