Olympic shot putter Sophie McKinna has had her training kit stolen just weeks before the national championships.

The Gorleston-born sportswoman woke up on Tuesday to discover her car in Bewick Close in Bradwell broken into and her shotputs stolen overnight.

She said: "My dad came in this morning and told me I'd left my car door open but I knew I hadn't.

"It's strange because there were more valuable things in the car, like a Barbour coat and my weight-lifting belt, but they took my training bag.

"It had my two shotputs and two pairs of throwing shoes - without them I can't do my job."

McKinna is due to compete in the UK Athletics Indoor Championships on February 19 but the theft has thrown off her training.

She said: "One of my shotputs is custom-made and takes six weeks to be shipped here from Japan so I can't just get a new one before the championships.

"It impacts all of my training which is so frustrating. I couldn't train today and won't be able to tomorrow.

"I would've prefered anything else be stolen. Like my Apple watch was taken too and I'm not that bothered, it's more easily replaced.

"But my shotputs don't even have a high resale value, they're not a precious material. They aren't worth anything to anyone but me.

"I'm hoping the person who took them has just dumped them nearby after realising they aren't worth anything so we can find them and I can get back to training."

McKinna has asked people in the area to check their doorbell cameras and report anything they saw to police, no matter how small.

Anyone with information is asked to contact PC Laura Fitzharris at Norfolk Police on 101 quoting crime reference number 36/9505/23.