Mr Carr was so upset by the incident that he did not have the heart to relate the bad news to his mother.

All that has now changed with the medals being handed back to Mr Carr by one of the Laverton police officers who located them.

"I can't believe it, I'm looking at Pa's medals and still can't believe they actually found them," Mr Carr said last week.

"They mean so much to me. Pa passed away in 1989. It was sudden; he died of a heart attack and because we were so close my grandmother had given the medals to me to look after.

"When I got burgled [at his Williamstown North business premises], I thought I'd never see them again."

Mr Carr said when police called to say last Wednesday they had located the medals, he did not believe them.

"I thought it was my uncle playing a joke on me. I was shocked when I found out it was true because I really thought they (the medals) were gone forever. We even talked about trying to get replacements."

Other items stolen from the premises, including jewellery, Mr Carr's passport, a digital camera and a mobile phone, were also handed back to him.

"Actually it's the second time I've lost the medals. I had put them away at home and over the years I'd forgotten where I put them."

Senior Constable Craig Wright of Laverton police was among those who found the items.

"Last Wednesday, Senior Constable James Harris and I were on patrol along the Railway Avenue side of the Laverton train station. It was about 11.20pm, and we noticed a car which appeared to me to be avoiding us.

"We made a routine intercept and straightaway there was evidence in the car that something was not quite right."

The officers searched the vehicle and found several items they suspected were stolen goods.

"We found war medals, a passport which obviously did not belong to the driver, several mobile phones, two car stereos, jewellery, a digital camera and a quantity of cannabis and cash."