Thieves get their come-uppance on the show

Burglars took the items from a London edit suite on Wednesday night after producers had been finishing off the second series of the Five show.

"It would have been better if the Swag camera crew had been around and on the case," said editor Syeda Irtizaali.

The second series is due to start on channel Five at the end of June.

"The chances of these thieves escaping with anything would have been substantially reduced if our crack team of super-sleuths had been around," the series editor added.

The production team were relieved to find the thieves had left behind tapes of the show, the results of months of work.

The hidden camera show introduced itself in the first series as "Candid Camera meets Crimewatch".

Some of the set-ups included a woman who parked in a disabled spot and returned to find her car surrounded by empty wheelchairs chained to each other in protest.

Ritchie, married to pop star Madonna, came up with the programme idea after his bicycle was stolen outside a London studio.