Lythe Primary School has minibus stolen for the second time
It was only replaced in December
Lythe Primary School has had their minibus stolen for the second time.
The school has 79 pupils and the vehicle had only just been replaced in December after a previous theft.
Its headteacher says despite increased security measures since then, the minibus was taken from the school grunds at around 9.30pm on Wednesday 18th January.
The bus is a white Peugeot Boxer with the registration HX67 BWF with 'Lythe CEVC Primary School' clearly seen on both sides of it.
The school's CCTV shows four people wearing hoodies, who were carrying equipment, entering the grounds after staff had left. They broke into the bus and drove in the direction of Middlesbrough.
The vehicle was seen on CCTV at Flatts Lane at around 11pm on the same night.
Lythe Primary School's headteacher says its whole community is 'shocked and saddened by the callous and cowardly theft of the bus'.
Lisa Armstrong said: "Our bus is so important to our children and to the work and ethos of our school. We want to give them the best possible experiences and having a bus lets us get out of the classrooms and make the most of all that our unique area has to offer.
"A lot of hard work from the whole school community went into replacing our previous minibus to give us the freedom to explore and take up as many opportunities for the children as we can.
"It’s frustrating now as it makes our trips out more complicated and expensive. However, we are not giving in to this and will be working hard to get back on the road.
“The response from our families and friends has been amazing. In dark times, there is so much good around. We are grateful to EskMoors Active who immediately contacted us to offer the use of their bus, and for some extremely generous financial donations.
"We will now have increased costs in hiring school transport and for the purchase and security of the new bus, and are setting up a JustGiving page in case anyone is able to contribute towards the cost of getting our children back on the road.”
If you would like to contribute, please contact the school on admin@lythe.n-yorks.sch.uk.
North Yorkshire Police are asking people if they saw anything unusual in Lythe or on any of the roads going north on the night of Wednesday 18th January to get in touch.
Officers are also looking for any information relating to a stolen minibus that people may have heard of.
Anyone who can help is asked to call 101, select option 2 and ask for PC 1605 Hayley Turner, quoting reference 12230010838.