HEATHROW police are appealing for witnesses and information after a large shipment of laptops was stolen from a trucking depot.

The theft from the depot, in Scylla Road, off the Southern Perimeter Road, took place on Saturday August 9.

The day before a consignment of laptop computers was collected from Heathrow at 9.30am and stored in a trailer at the location over the weekend.

At 10pm on Saturday a white lorry cab drove into the depot and left towing the 40ft trailer containing the laptops. On the Tuesday the trailer was found abandoned and empty in a lay-by on the A308 in Ashford, Middlesex.

The black ADVENT laptops, model numbers 5312 and 5313 are not yet in the public domain and are exclusive to PC World.

DS Jose Defreitas from Operation Grafton, SCD7 (Serious and Organised Crime Command) said: "We are asking members of the public to be vigilant. If anyone offers them Advent laptops with model numbers 5312 and 5313, which are not yet available in England, they may well be stolen."

Anyone with information which may assist this investigation are asked to contact Operation Grafton on 020 8246 9950 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.