A grieving widower is begging thieves to return irreplaceable pictures of his partner.

To the lovely people that stole my wallet today at Lakeside Tesco around 11.30am out of my Sainsburys zipped uniform...

Posted by Phil Shipp on Thursday, 11 February 2016

Sainsbury’s worker Phil Shipp, of Upminster, had his wallet pinched in Tesco at Lakeside shopping centre on Thursday.

In it were precious photos of his partner, who died four weeks ago after battling cancer.

He has now appealed to the culprits to return the photos – and told them to keep the money.

He wrote on Facebook: “To the lovely people that stole my wallet today at Lakeside Tesco around 11.30am out of my Sainsburys zipped uniform pocket, (yes I know the irony,) please keep the money may it buy you happiness, but I beg please, please, please could you return the photos inside of the wallet of my beautiful partner who passed away four weeks ago after a long, brave battle with cancer.

“The photos are irreplaceable and is one of my most treasured possessions one that can never, ever be retaken.

Please share my post, thank you.”

The post has been shared 75,000 times.