A vineyard owner has said it was "disheartening" to discover the theft of about 500kg (1,100lb) of grapes worth about £1,000.

Lee Dyer, from Winbirri Vineyard in Surlingham, Norfolk, realised some of his rows had been "completely stripped" while harvesting the crop on 28 September.

"The biggest impact is that's 400 bottles we now won't have," he said. He has reported the crime to Norfolk Police.

Nick Watson, who is chairman of WineGB East and runs a vineyard near Newmarket, Suffolk, described the incident as "unprecedented".

This was the second year running that thieves had stolen grapes from Winbirri Vineyard, which was set up by Dyer's father Stephen in 2007.

Dyer, who took over the business in 2010, said: "All my family are involved in this and we work seven days a week.

"This is a year's worth [of wine] we can't get back - it's the fact it's happened that's more disheartening."

He believed the theft took place during the evening and it had been committed by a "good picking crew... used to doing what they were doing".

"We have been in the vineyard seven days a week in the middle of our harvest while this happened - to pick 500 kilos is going to take a few people, it's not a one-person operation," he added.

He added he should not have had to think about extra security, because "somebody shouldn't walk into somebody else's field and steal their livelihood".

Watson said: "It's quite a big quantity, half a tonne, finding vehicles to move that stuff around after dark or without anyone noticing is going to be pretty difficult to do."

He said the UK wine industry was "highly monitored", adding: "You need to have the right paperwork for it to happen, so it's unusual anything goes amiss because of duty and HMRC are also keen to know of anything like this."

Anyone hoping to have a go at producing their own wine would need specialist equipment and knowledge to produce good quality wine from the grapes.

"[But] I would doubt to see anyone do this on a full scale operation by stealing grapes — I just don't think it's worthwhile," he said.

Do you have a story suggestion for Norfolk? Contact us below.

Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.