Couple’s loving restoration halted by caravan thieves

A couple say they are devastated after thieves stole the caravan they were lovingly restoring.

Mark and Linda Hadlow had spent many months on the project, which they hoped would eventually give them happy trips away.

It was a labour of love for the pair, who both suffer ill health, but their dreams have now been shattered.

The four-berth, off-white Adria Optima caravan was taken on Saturday night from a garden in Howfield Lane, Chartham, where it was being stored by friends while the restoration was underway.

Linda, 51,suffered a head injury at work nine years ago after a metal board fell on her.

Ever since, she has suffered visual vertigo and other physical issues which make it difficult for her to stand for long.

“That caravan was a little Godsend to us and we had invested a lot of love, time and effort in it, creating an American-diner style interior,” she said.

“It was still a bit of an ugly duckling on the outside to be honest, which is why we thought no one would bother stealing it, but we intended to start on that once the interior was finished.”

Linda and Mark, from Whitfield, say they cannot afford hotel-style holidays as neither of them currently work.

“The trouble is that I can’t go camping either because of the physical stuff that involves, so the caravan was really going to be our only chance to get away.

“It would be wonderful to get it back and we are just hoping that the more people who know about it, the better the chance we have.”