OBE stolen in lozenge family raid

An OBE and MBE given to the woman behind the Fisherman's Friend lozenge empire were among the items stolen in a robbery at her Lancashire home.

Tony and Doreen Lofthouse were locked in the bathroom overnight after confronting the two men in the raid in Thornton Cleveleys on Friday.

Mrs Lofthouse's MBE and OBE, diamond jewellery and cash were among the stolen items, valued at about £100,000.

The couple were ranked 491st in the 2008 Sunday Times Rich List.

Mr Lofthouse was involved in a "brief struggle" with the robbers, police said, but both he and his wife were not seriously hurt.

They were locked in the bathroom until the arrival of a gardener on Saturday morning who raised the alarm.

Det Insp Glen Oldham, who is leading the investigation by Lancashire police, said it was "clearly a premeditated and carefully planned robbery".

Doreen Lofthouse's OBE is among the items stolen

Police believe the two men, who had East European accents, got into the house about 2130 GMT. CCTV cameras outside the property caught one of the robbers on film.

The stolen property includes diamond drop earrings with four kite-shaped diamonds, a solitaire diamond ring, a Bueche girod wristwatch and a Fisherman's Friend gold lozenge mounted in a frame.

Det Insp Oldham said: "I am appealing to the public to be vigilant and should they come across any jewellery matching the descriptions below that they may have suspicions about, to contact police.

"I would also re-iterate the appeal to anyone that saw anything suspicious in the days or weeks leading up to the robbery to come forward with any information they think could be significant."

The first robber was described as being of a stocky build and approximately 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall. He was wearing a balaclava with a red diamond pattern on the front.

Family firm

His accomplice was about 5ft 10ins (1.78m) tall and described as slim, and was also wearing a balaclava.

Fisherman's Friend was originally developed by Fleetwood pharmacist James Lofthouse in 1865 to relieve various respiratory problems suffered by fishermen working in the Icelandic deep-sea fishing grounds.

It remains a family company and Mr and Mrs Lofthouse transformed it into a global brand, making Fisherman's Friend available in more than 100 countries.

The Lofthouse family paid for the restoration of a replica of the London Eros statue and donated it to the town of Fleetwood in 2006.

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