Charity 'devastated' after shepherd's hut stolen

The hut was kitted out with specialist equipment including a sand wheelchair

A specially adapted beach hut for families of children with special needs and disabilities has been stolen days before it was to be reinstalled for the summer season.

The Weymouth Shepherd Beach Hut was created and run by the charity Dorset Parent Carer Council and had been adapted for wheelchair users.

Dorset Police said the theft, from the Cokers Frome pumping station in Slyers Lane in Dorchester. was reported at 11:17 GMT on Saturday.

Chair of the charity Lesley Mellor said she was feeling "a range of emotions... I'm angry, I'm upset, I feel hurt".

"As a parent-carer myself, I know what it's like when you're dealing, daily, with a child with a disability and to have something to look forward to is really important in your life," she said.

The theft happened from the charity's winter storage days before a company had been booked to transport it back to the Weymouth promenade.

The charity has three huts for hire in Weymouth, at Knoll Beach near Swanage and at Lyme Regis.

Ms Mellor said the huts were really well used by families "who desperately need the opportunity of having a nice, pleasant, normalised day out on the beach".

She said: "We've been inundated with offers of support and help. There is a lot of upset out there. They feel personally affronted by the theft."

The hut on Weymouth Beach was somewhere a family with a child with special needs could experience something "normalised and special"

The hut was purpose-built in 2014 and made wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs.

It also has a changing bed, an access ramp and a specially adapted sand wheelchair so children could be pushed from the hut into the sea.

Building a replacement hut is expected to cost the charity around £45,000 – but that does not include any of the specialist equipment.

Asked about the chances of the hut being returned, Ms Mellor said: "I think in my heart of hearts I've written it off."

Dorset Police added that enquiries were being carried out and no arrests have so far been made.