A university student fears she has lost work she has spent months on after her rucksack was stolen from her car.

Polly Dixon is pleading for information about the whereabouts of her bag after a thief broke into her red Citroen while it was parked in Mill Chase, Halstead.

Miss Dixon’s bank card was taken during the theft and used twice soon after to the value of £50.

She is desperate to recover university notes which were also in the bag.

She said: “I left my car by the park from about 6.30pm to go to a friend’s house.

“I left it there overnight and got a lift home. I walked my dog up there to pick it up early in the morning and saw the door was slightly open as the interior light was on and my bag was gone.

“I had put it in the front passenger footwell which I thought was hidden enough but apparently it wasn’t.

“The bag contained a laptop, charger, my purse, books that I have listed on Facebook and notes for university as well as my student ID.

“The laptop is obviously worth the most money and I really need it back.

“But it’s the books that are most important because they are highlighted and tabbed which has taken around three months to accumulate together.”

The rucksack is described as black and grey while the missing book is called Company Law Handbook and is described as thick and blue.

Miss Dixon, who studies at BPP law school in Cambridge, remains hopeful that her university work can still be recovered but says she has been left frustrated by the ordeal.

She added: “I’m just angry really.

“I don’t understand what goes through people’s heads when they do something like this especially so close to houses and the park.

“I’m hoping they’ve dumped it when they found lots of paper and books.”

Essex Police says it is now investigating the theft which took place between 6.30pm on Monday, January 22 and 6.30am on Tuesday, January 23. Anyone with info about the incident should call Braintree Police Station on 101.