MALVERN police are on the trail of Maid Marian and Friar Tuck following an unusual theft from a car.

Thieves stole fancy-dress outfits of the characters from a Fiat Punto between 5pm on Saturday and 10am the following morning.

The outfits consist of a long, green dress with train and blonde wig and a brown coloured monk's habit with black wig and false bald patch.

Jeanette Hughes had left them on the back seat of her car after attending a fancy dress dinner in Upton-upon-Severn on Friday.

She only moved to her new home in Wyche Cutting, Malvern, two weeks ago, but says the experience has not put her off the town.

"I have to do a lot of driving about, and I'm usually quite careful," she said.

"I just left the two costumes on the back seat, and didn't really think about it.

"They didn't take anything else from the car, but they smashed the window, which is a pain."

Tanya Delahaye, who owns the Dudley shop where the costumes were hired from, said the Maid Marian outfit is one of her most popular, and she had had to replace it as it was in demand from other customers.

"I felt sorry for them, it's not a very nice thing to happen, especially at this time of year," she said. "I'm just glad they had an opportunity to wear them before they were stolen."