MONKEYS stolen from a zoo in what police said appeared to be a 'planned and pre-meditated' break-in have been found, the zoo has said.

Raiders cut a hole in the perimeter fence of Blackpool Zoo and removed the locks from two separate monkey enclosures on Tuesday.

They took two female and one baby cotton-top tamarin, which are a critically endangered species, and two male emperor tamarins.

But the zoo said four of the five had been recovered in Yorkshire and were now safely back at the zoo.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page, it said: “We are absolutely delighted to confirm that four of the stolen tamarins are safely back at the zoo.

“Sadly, the baby was not found.

"They were recovered by police in Yorkshire late last night and their keeper drove over to collect them.”