A Tolworth author who stopped to ask directions after getting lost in Surbiton said he is “shattered” after a valuable manuscript was stolen from his car.

Sohan Lal Saini, 72, of Hamilton Avenue, Tolworth, wants the thieves to return the manuscript of the book he has written about his parents.

Mr Saini, who writes under the pen name Sohan Rahi, was driving from Surbiton station at 10.45pm on Sunday night when he wound down his window to ask three boys on the corner of Oakhill Road for directions back to Tolworth.

Mr Saini said one of the boys reached into the open window and snatched the blue fabric shoulder bag, containing his manuscript, a poetry notebook and some food from the passenger seat in a “split second”.

He said: “I am shattered. I have lived in Tolworth since 1975 and nothing like this has ever happened to me before.

“This work is so precious. The book was all about my parents and had just been sent back to me by a publisher in Bombay for me to check.

“It had taken me years and years to write and now, just like that, it is gone.”

Mr Saini, a widower, has four grandchildren and retired from the BBC as a senior architectural assistant in 1989.

He has written eight poetry books in Hindi, English, Urdu and Punjabi.

Mr Saini immediately reported the incident to police and drove around with officers trying to find the culprits.

He added: “I am upset and disgusted. It isn’t of monetary value to anyone so I hope if someone finds it they will hand it in to police.”