Stolen Lord of the Rings books returned to Worcester charity

The hospice said the books were believed to be collectively worth about £1,500

A set of first-edition copies of The Lord of The Rings books that were stolen from a charity shop have been returned.

St Richard's Hospice in Worcester had reported the theft to the police after the books were taken on 19 December.

In a post on social media, it said they had now been returned to its store on St Swithins Street.

It thanked people for sharing information about the theft and ensuring they were returned.

The copies of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King had been kept in a locked cabinet at the store.

Following their theft, the charity had said it was "saddened" as they could have raised a substantial amount towards the hospice's care work.

The charity said the books were taken from a locked cabinet at the store

Dan Corns, commercial director at St Richard's, had said the hardbacks featured first-edition text from 1954, but were all published in 1957, so while first editions, they were not first printings and were estimated to collectively be worth about £1,500.

"I had a phone call yesterday from the store manager to say that he was just going round the store tidying up and found they had been placed on shelf, which was not normally where would have been, so someone had carefully come in and put them somewhere where we would not necessarily see them but see the books at some time, and luckily we did before someone else saw [and] walked out with them," he said.

"Obviously someone has thought about it and through their conscience has decided perhaps they didn't do the right thing."

St Richard's Hospice supports more than 2,900 patients, family members and bereaved people in Worcestershire with running costs of £8.75m over the last year.