Olympic athlete Andy Turner burgled during mum's funeral

The athlete is the third fastest British sprint hurdler of all time behind Colin Jackson and Tony Jarrett

Olympic athlete Andy Turner has been left "devastated" after his home was burgled during his mother's funeral.

The sprint hurdler appealed for help on Twitter in finding those responsible for the break-in, which happened on Thursday in Hucknall, Nottingham.

He tweeted: "Whilst at the function, we were burgled and everything was stolen including my car, laptop, phone plus loads of other stuff."

Turner's 58-year-old mother, Yvonne, died on 29 October.

In another tweet, Turner, 33, said he was "absolutely devastated".

"Can't believe these people could do this on a day like today, please help catch them," he added.

'I was targeted'

Speaking on BBC Radio Nottingham earlier, Turner said he did not regret publicising his mother's funeral on social networking sites.

He said: "My mum would have wanted people at the funeral so we put it out there on Facebook and Twitter.

"At no point did I say I'd be at my parent's house.

"It's absolutely horrific that it's happened during my mum's funeral.

"It's mainly my stuff that's gone and that's why I think I was targeted."

The hurdler said his white Range Rover Sport, with the number plate L10 RUN and his name below, was taken, as well as a personalised bag.

A Nottinghamshire Police spokeswoman said thieves gained entry via the back of the house between 14:00 and 20:30 GMT on Thursday.

The Nottingham-born athlete is the third fastest British sprint hurdler of all time behind Colin Jackson and Tony Jarrett and won gold medals at both the Commonwealth Games and European Athletics Championships in 2010.

He also took bronze in the 110 metres hurdles at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu.