Traitors star Paul Gorton did not think twice about sharing photographs on social media while enjoying a family holiday with his wife and two young children.

But when he returned home he discovered that his house in Cheshire had been burgled just days earlier.

"The eerie bit is at 21:10 BST I posted that me and Kate were by the side of the pool, we've got full bellies, the kids are in bed, we're actually having our little bit of the holiday," he said.

"About 20 minutes later, little did we know, our house has been broken into."

Paul's bike as well as several sentimental items including an irreplaceable ring from Kate's grandmother were stolen in the burglary on 28 August.

The perpetrators managed to break in through the bi-fold doors at the back of the house by using a technique known as lock snapping before cutting the broadband connection.

Paul, who was a contestant on the second series of the popular BBC series, said he reported the burglary to Cheshire Police, with the force describing it as a "one-off hit".

As a result, Paul believes it was a "targeted attack".

"They said they normally see people come in from far and wide and they [target] a couple of houses in a night but this isn't the case," said Paul, who is originally from St Helens.

"This makes me suspect that it could be someone that follows me.

"They've seen that I've posted that I was away and then thought 'let's go in the house and see if we can get ourselves some goodies'."

Paul said he hoped other people would learn from his misfortune.

"I think the key message is for people to be a little bit smarter, more conscientious when they're posting and post when they're back at home.

"Hopefully people can learn from my mistakes.

"I guess the aim is the worst thing that's happened to us could be the best thing that will happen to you because you can protect yourself moving forward and that's the whole reason behind the campaign."

Following the burglary, Paul has joined forces with Compare the Market, which commissioned a licensed private investigator to examine the publicly available digital footprints of nine volunteers.

They were able to identify seven home addresses by using publicly available information.

The fastest home address was identified in 15 minutes, with the first lead found in only 50 seconds.

"It's not just about social media," said Paul.

"I've learned to think about the whole picture with locks, alarms, lights, what you're posting online and whether you're accidentally advertising that nobody's home."

Cheshire Police confirmed investigations were ongoing into the burglary but no arrests had been made.

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