Stolen minibus found burnt out in New Forest
The vehicle was taken from a Test Valley charity
Last updated 28th Apr 2022
There's been another case of a minibus being stolen in Hampshire and later found burnt out in the New Forest.
In the latest incident, a vehicle was taken from Andover based charity Youth Options and discovered at Turf Hill near Hale, having been set alight.
In a statement, Hampshire Police have told us:
"We received a report from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service at 11.40pm yesterday evening (Wednesday 27th April) regarding a minibus which had been set alight in Turf Hill Car Park.
"The incident has been filed pending further information coming to light, in which case, the investigation may be re-opened to pursue new lines of enquiry.
"Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call 101, quoting 44220165366."
The vehicle, which belonged to the Youth Options charity, to support young people in getting to activities.
Madeleine Durie, Chief Executive Officer of Youth Options said:
“We are so upset that someone would do this, and particularly to a charity minibus. It had our logo and charity details on, so whoever stole it would have been completely aware they were stealing from a children and young people’s charity.
"We had fundraised to buy the minibus and it was used daily to transport children to our youth centre in Andover, and to take children to outings during the school holidays. Only last week, we had used the minibus to enable children from Andover to our outdoor learning centre in Eastleigh where they got to build dens, cook on campfires. They had such a great time, they didn’t want to leave. Without the use of the minibus, we wouldn’t have been able to give them those opportunities.”
The charity's also launched a fundraiser to try and recoup the cost of the minibus.
SIMILAR CASES
It's the third time in as many months that this kind of incident has happened in the New Forest.
Back in February, a mini bus was stolen from Morgan's Vale and Woodfalls Primary School and later found dumped in Bramshaw.
Last month, a stolen Landrover from Redlych was also dumped and set alight near Cadnam.