England cricket star Ben Stokes had his Range Rover stolen from his driveway by raiders who also took jewellery and cherished possessions.

Yet the burglars abandoned it a few hundreds yards away after the vehicle’s anti-theft tracker activated, it has now emerged. 

Police have tried to recover footage of the incident in the sleepy village of Castle Eden, near Hartlepool, but their attempts have been hampered.

According to locals, more than half a dozen of the luxury homes in the area have been targeted by burglars recently but the latest raid has shocked many villagers into upgrading security overnight.

Stokes, England’s Test cricket captain, revealed yesterday how a masked gang who broke into his home when his wife Clare and two young children were there, while he was in Pakistan for the recent series.

Ben Stokes is pictured with a Range Rover he took delivery of in 2019 – it is not clear whether this is the same vehicle as the one which was stolen this month

Stokes is pictured with his wife Clare at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony at the P&J Live arena in Aberdeen in December 2019 – she was at home at the time of the burglary

A golden necklace with a lion’s head was among the items taken during the break-in

The 33-year-old lost a number of ‘irreplaceable’ items including three necklaces, a Christian Dior bag, an engraved ring — and his OBE medal which he received in 2020.

Stokes said his family did not come to ‘any physical harm’ in the raid but that it has had an impact on their ’emotional and mental state’.

Details of the Range Rover theft were shared today by neighbours, with one saying: ‘Apparently, they took the car and ditched it at the top of the village. It had a tracker on it and something cut out.

‘I believe it was a Range Rover of something like that and the tracker disabled it. The family keep themselves to themselves.’

One resident said: ‘I was quite shocked to be honest. I only live just down the road. It came as a massive shock.

‘It is a quiet village. So when something happens on this scale a lot of people down the street have been installing CCTV

‘There has been a few burglaries before. But this happened and the next thing I woke up one morning and everyone had been down to Screwfix to buy CCTV.

‘I just heard it had happened to Ben and that is about it. I reckon it was because he was a celebrity and the fact he was still in the house when it happened was the shocking part.

The back of the lion necklace has the engraving: ‘Some may be better, but none will be braver’

Ben Stokes was captaining England in the Test series in Pakistan when the burglary happened 

An engraved England ring with set diamonds was also taken from Stokes’ home 

‘His wife and kids were there. Usually, this kind of thing happens when you are out at work or on a night out.’

Another local added: ‘There are break-ins every now and again – about seven or eight recently – but this had an impact because he is famous.

‘It is not really a village. It is more of a road and tucked away. It is quiet village but these things often happen to sports people who go away a lot.’

A fellow neighbour said: ‘I heard last week from some workmen the week before last that they had been broken into and was surprised it was not in the papers.

‘There are some villages around which are not so nice as here. I am not worried but then we have probably not got as much stuff at Ben Stokes.’

Another woman said: ‘We were away when it happened. Castle Eden is a lovely area and we don’t get much crime around here so we were quite shocked.’

It was also suggested by a female neighbour that the culprits could be ‘a gang who have been targeting people’.

She added: ‘There is usually a spate of garden burglaries but nothing as serious as this with a masked gang. Ben keeps himself to himself and I don’t blame him.’

A Christian Dior bag belonging to Ben Stokes’ wife Clare was taken during the raid

Also taken by the thieves on October 17 was this diamond necklace

Ben Stokes is pictured with his wife Clare after the NatWest PCA Awards where he was crowned Player of the Year

Another man said: ‘We have had about eight burglaries in the street in the past few weeks but nothing like this.

‘It was just kids with gloves breaking into garages. But it is the first sign of trouble we have had around here so we will be looking to upgrade our security in the near future.

‘There are always quite a few cars parked outside Ben Stokes’s house. I think there is the Range Rover and a Bentley.

‘You only see him out and about occasionally walking his dog. ‘

Stokes’ representatives have been contacted.

He had posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday about the burglary, saying the incident took place on the evening of Thursday, October 17.

Stokes was in Pakistan until the conclusion of the third Test last week which England lost by nine wickets as Pakistan took the series 2-1.

He released a statement and photographs of the stolen items yesterday, saying his ‘sole motivation’ for making a public statement is to ‘catch the people who did this’.

England cricket captain Ben Stokes, seen after collecting his OBE honour at Buckingham Palace in February 2020, has appealed for help tracking down his stolen possessions

Ben and Clare first got together in 2010 and announced their engagement in 2013 in their local Somerset paper at the time – they are pictured here outside Bristol Crown Court in 2018

The cricketer said: ‘On the evening of Thursday 17th October a number of masked people burgled my home in the Castle Eden area in the North East.

‘They escaped with jewellery, other valuables and a good deal of personal items. Many of those items have real sentimental value for me and my family. They are irreplaceable.

‘This is an appeal for any help in finding these people who carried out this act.

‘By far the worst thing about this crime is that it was carried out whilst my wife and 2 young children were in the house. Thankfully, none of my family came to any physical harm.

‘Understandably, however, the experience has had an impact on their emotional and mental state. All we can think about is how much worse this situation could have been.

‘I am releasing photographs of some of the stolen items – which I hope may be easily identified – in the hope that we can find the people who are responsible for this.

‘Although we have lost cherished possessions, to be clear, my sole motivation in sharing these photographs is not the recovery of material items. It is to catch the people who did this.

‘Please come forward and contact Durham Constabulary on 101 quoting crime reference CRI00575927 if you think that you have any relevant information.

Ben Stokes (pictured during a practice session in Pakistan on October 23) said the recent burglary ordeal had an ‘impact’ on his wife and two children’s ’emotional and mental state’

Stokes added: ‘All we can think about is how much worse this situation could have been’

‘Finally, I want to say thank you to the police service. Both now and whilst I was away in Pakistan, their support for my family has been outstanding. They continue to work incredibly hard in trying to find these people.’

This is not the first time that England’s cricket captain has been targeted by thieves.

Last year, Stokes had his bag stolen at King’s Cross station in London after travelling from Cumbria to watch England play France in the rugby Six Nations.

He tweeted angrily at the thieves and thundered that he hoped his ‘clothes are too big for you ya absolute ******’.