Stolen Nutcracker statue rescued from river

Carl Alsop and Chris Patrick were among those who helped fish the Nutcracker out of the River Ouse

A Nutcracker statue has been fished out of the River Ouse after going missing from a Christmas trail in York.

The figure is one of 10 on display around the city, each representing a different country that makes up the York community.

Organisers from York BID believe the Nutcracker was stolen from Skeldergate by two suspects on Sunday night.

However, after a team effort from street cleaners, rangers and members of the public, the statue was recovered from the river yesterday morning.

The Nutcracker was stolen from Skeldergate and thrown into the River Ouse

Carl Alsop from York BID said: "We saw a concerned resident had put out a message on social media that two people, who maybe didn't see the magic in the trail, had decided to take the Nutcracker for a walk and test his swimming abilities."

On Monday morning, street cleaner Chris Patrick went to check on the statues and noticed one was missing from outside Middletons Hotel.

After a walk down the river, he located it and was joined by Mr Alsop and Rachel Bean to retrieve it.

"We managed to give him a good wash down, a good brush up and got him back in place safely on Skeldergate," Mr Alsop added.

"It's sadly not the only time. It's the only one that's been swimming but there was one attempted theft from outside Barley Hall."

This Nutcracker was also returned to its position and Mr Alsop said some "really good footage" of the suspects was handed to police in both cases.

"Although it's really sad to do it at Christmastime, we will be looking to prosecute and make sure this doesn't happen again," he added.

York BID added that all 10 Nutcrackers were attached to their spots "quite securely" but people had taken extra measures to steal them.

"I don't think we want to do any more than we've already done because we're very keen that the thousands of people coming in to experience this over Christmas can still do that," Mr Alsop said.

"Twice people have tried but both times, the great network and team we've got have got it sorted in no time at all.

"Hopefully that's the last of it and people will just enjoy the trail as intended for the rest of the season."

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