Thieves drive off with caravan in night-time raid
BRICKS, wood, metal wheels and plastic debris – that was all that was left after a family caravan was stolen from a holiday park near Porthcawl on Monday.
Grandparents Barbara and Terry Pike were left devastated after discovering their tourer had been towed away from Danygraig Holiday Park in South Cornelly.
The 2015 Swift Sprite model had been pitched at the site since earlier this year, along with a large awning and a small wooden fence.
But thieves managed to cut through three locks, metal wiring and plastic PVCu to hook up the tourer to a vehicle before brazenly driving away with it.
The couple, from the Rhondda, who have three grandchildren, say the whole family have been left devastated at “their second home” being taken, along with more than £20,000 worth of belongings and a number of sentimental items.
Terry, 61, said: “The farmer who owns the site tried to phone me on Monday night, but my phone was on silent.
“My son – who’s got a caravan on the same site – phoned me in the morning and he said: ‘Your caravan has been pinched’.
“I thought he was joking. We went down there on Tuesday morning and the whole caravan was just gone.”
Mr Pike said the thieves managed to cut through two wheel locks, a hitch lock – which was secured to the front of the tow bar – a 12mm wire which had been threaded through the axle and PVCu cladding around the front and side of the tourer.
“They must have been looking at our caravan before stealing it on Monday night,” he said.
“For them to know what sort of security we had, and what they needed to cut through it – this wasn’t just a five-minute job.
“They would have had to walk across the site, undo all of the security, cut the locks, drive in, hook up and drive off.”
Mr Pike – who owned another caravan on the same site for more than 10 years before buying this one in March – estimates that the family may have lost more than £20,000 worth of items, including two TVs, two microwaves, an awning, cooker, bedding, decorations and the cost of the caravan itself.
“We had a lot of sentimental items in there, like Toy Story toys that belonged to the kids when they were little.
“We had half our lives in there – we pretty much lived there for seven months of the year. It hasn’t really sunk in.
“My wife and my grandchildren are really upset. It’s like someone has just ripped something away from us.
“We’ve worked hard our whole lives and people just come and take it from us.
“It’s like a big part of our family has been taken.”
Mr Pike says the caravan was taken on Monday at around midnight.
A police spokeswoman said: “South Wales Police received reports of the theft of a caravan at Danygraig Holiday Park, Porthcawl, on Tuesday, November 20 at approximately 9.30am.
“This is currently being investigated. ■