The reward offered for the safe return of two much-loved Laurel and Hardy statues has doubled to £10,000.

Stolen on July 22, the six-feet statues belong to Peter Elliott and Lesley Haylett and are considered part of the Noak Hill furniture.

Dean Floyd - who runs the Chigwell Group construction company - originally offered a £5,000 reward for the statues' safe return at the end of July.

With no luck yet, he has doubled the reward being offered on behalf of his company.

Owner Lesley hopes this prompts someone to come forward: "Dean is brilliant with us, he always has been. Last night he sent me a message saying he would up the reward. We can't thank him enough."

She has recently made footage which allegedly shows the outline of the thief public, in the hopes that it will jog someone's memory. It has not been published by this newspaper for legal reasons.

A face covering means the thief is not easily identifiable, including to Lesley, who remains in the dark over who stole her beloved statues.

"We think he - they - are local," she said.

By they, Lesley means a person driving a van in the video.

"We think they may have borrowed this van. So we're appealing to anyone who may have offered to lend their van in the days leading up to July 22."

With the statues a key part of Lesley's infamous Christmas celebrations, she is "desperate" to get them back for the festive season.

Sadly, it is not the first time they have been stolen from their Noak Hill home.

They were snatched in 2015, only to be returned again three years later.

The most recent theft happened two days after Peter had returned to St Bartholomew's Hospital to be treated for leukaemia.

Lesley confirmed that he is now back home and continuing to recover from a gruelling round of treatment.

Anyone with information should call the police on 101, or contact Lesley via Facebook.