NEW dad Dan Oliver had his laptop computer stolen from his car as he stood at the hospital bedside of his pregnant wife.

The 30-year-old field engineer from West Wycombe Road, High Wycombe, left the laptop in his Land Rover Freelander, parked in the maternity ward car park at Wycombe Hospital, in Queen Alexandra Road, on Sunday, July 17, afternoon.

He was supporting his wife Anna, who was about to go into labour.

After Mrs Oliver had given birth to their son, Toby, Mr Oliver returned to his car in the evening to find one of the windows smashed and the laptop stolen.

He said: "It's really ironic. They must have taken the laptop while my wife was inside giving birth to my son."

Police believe the incident took place sometime between 5pm and 7pm.

Mr Oliver, who works for T-Mobile, uses the bulky, square Itronix laptop as part of his job to carry out roadside repairs to radio signal boxes.

He said: "The funny thing is that my laptop is really big and heavy, not like modern ones. It looks the way very old laptops did."

He added: "It's only really useful to me and you couldn't use it as a normal laptop. Anyone trying to do so would have real difficulty. I don't think whoever took it will be able to sell it for very much."

Mr Oliver fears that whoever took the specialised laptop may have now thrown it away.

He said: "I just hope whoever took it has a change of heart."

Police are now looking for anybody with information about the theft to come forward.

Anybody who witnessed the theft or has seen the laptop since should call Thames Valley Police on 0845 8 505 505 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.