A DJ says his livelihood has been stolen after a brazen thief took his top-of-the-range laptop from the pub where he works.

Kieran Mayhew is a supervisor at The Marquis pub, in North Hill, Colchester and also a resident DJ at Fashions Cafe Bar, in Queen Street, and performs at events and venues across Colchester and further afield.

At around 8.30pm last Monday (November 26) a crook entered The Marquis and made off with a 15" Macbook Pro laptop, which cost Mr Mayhew around £3,000 to purchase when it was new.

Mr Mayhew said: "I was working at the time so didn't notice anything.

"The CCTV shows the guy come into the pub, but he did not come in to the bar area to get a drink.

"He stood near the back hanging about and then went towards the stairway which leads to the living quarters.

"At some point he went upstairs and must have taken my Macbook."

As well as costing Mr Mayhew a huge amount of money when the laptop was purchased, the computer also contained around six years worth of original music he had produced.

"The music I created is priceless to me," he said.

"I am in a bad position at the moment because all of my music collection which I use to DJ was also on that laptop.

"I am trying at the moment to get some sort of similar replacement so that I can continue working.

"The laptop was a Macbook Pro 15" and was top of the range when I bought it.

"The most important thing for me though would be to get the work I produced back."

Mr Mayhew said nothing like this has happened to staff at the pub in his time working there and said he has received a lot of support from his colleagues and punters, who spotted the man in the question elsewhere the same evening.

A spokesman for Essex Police confirmed they are investigating the theft.

He said: "It was reported someone broke into an address in North Hill, Colchester sometime between 6pm on November 26 and 1am on November 27. A laptop was taken."

Witnesses should call Essex Police on 101 quoting the crime reference number 42/173200/18 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.