A blind pensioner says she feels she has been a victim of "disability hate crime" after specially adapted laptops were stolen from her home.

Chris Staines’s house in Capel Road, Wanstead, was burgled on Monday evening as she was out walking with her guide dog in Wanstead Flats.

Two of her specially adapted laptops were stolen along with a bag of presents for her grandchildren, and her wallet.

Her two laptops were configured to provide voice emails and documents.

Mrs Staines returned after her walk to find her door had been forced open, before she phoned the police, and believes it was a premeditated crime.

The 71-year-old said: "I couldn't believe it, I got home and the door was open, it was just heart-renching.

"Those laptops were my life and my life feels like it is over now, they are my contact to the outside world.

“It seems pretty clear I was watched they waited for me to leave, it seems people just do not have a conscience, how could they do that?

“What a terrible thing to happen, it is so horrible and I feel like I have been a victim of disability hate crime.”

Redbridge Victim Support has a team with Mrs Staines and police are investigating the incident, but no one has been arrested.