A garage owner is offering a £3,000 reward for the recovery of treasured tools worth £17,000 after they were stolen, leaving his team unable to work.

Police have released images of three men they would like to speak to in connection with the burglary at Fosters Auto Centres in Church Road, Mitcham at about 2.30am on Friday, August 8.

Officers believe three men broke into the garage and stole the tools before escaping into the Phipps Bridge Estate via the graveyard.

Michael Taylor, manager of Fosters Auto Centres, said: "This break-in has had a dramatic impact on the guys who work here.

"They have been buying and collecting their own specialist tools for over 20 years."

All the stolen tools are engraved with the owners' initials or name: M.T, S.H or ANDY.

Mr Taylor added: "We work hard fixing vehicles and do regular charity fundraisers and now we are relying on the local community to help us find the criminals who broke into our garage and stole our tools."

Police are hunting for three men between the ages of 18 and 20-years-old.

One man is described as skinny, wearing a grey Nike T-shirt, dark jogging bottoms and dark trainers.

Another man is described as having an athletic build and wearing a grey Nike jumper and black trousers.

A third man is described as having an athletic build, wearing a grey jumper, black T-shirt and grey Nike jogging bottoms.

Detective Superintendent Dan Mitchell, of the Merton Burglary Team, said: "This burglary has left three people unable to work and support their families. These were high valued tools which are not easy to replace for this small local business."

"I urge anyone who recognises the people from the CCTV stills or are approached by any person selling power tools on the street to contact us."

Anyone with information is asked to contact 020 8649 3019 or to remain anonymous contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.