Coalville: Minibus stolen from day centre found after online appeal

A side window of the minibus had been smashed

A day centre for people with disabilities said the Leicestershire community helped to find its minibus after it was stolen.

Staff at Choices for Life, in Coalville, discovered the vehicle had been taken on Friday, with only broken glass left behind.

It was found in Loughborough on Saturday after a social media appeal.

Katharine Merryweather, operations director, said the community response showed "that everybody cared".

She said the minibus was found without its licence plates and with a smashed window.

It has undergone about £500 worth of repairs, she added, leaving service users without accessible transport.

Ms Merryweather said: "Our service users have learning disabilities, physical disabilities, autism - they're some of the most vulnerable people in society.

"Their faces when it was stolen and they couldn't go out, it was very upsetting.

"The people who are wheelchair users just haven't been able to go out since."

She said the cost of repairs was not known, but that extra security measures such as trackers and cameras would be added.

"We won't go through the insurance," Ms Merryweather said. "We'll have to pay it ourselves because we've got seven vehicles.

"It'll put the fleet insurance up a lot and it's through the roof already as you can imagine."

Investigation ongoing

She said the community response to the online appeal had demonstrated "the nice side of social media".

Ms Merryweather said: "We've been going 21 years and it's never happened before.

"It's got disabled stickers all over it and a wheel ramp.

"The service users' faces when they brought it back, they were so happy."

A Leicestershire Police spokesperson confirmed no arrests had been made and enquiries continued.