Stolen minibus is tracked down - but school gets the bill to recover it

The torched wreckage of a minibus stolen from a Rotherham special needs school has been found.

But in an extra blow, the school has been charged £1,000 for its recovery despite being in the middle of fundraising to buy a replacement vehicle.

Thieves were caught on CCTV on June 10 as they broke into a secure area at The Willows School – a special education place of learning – on Locksley Drive, Thurcroft.

They also badly damaged another vehicle in their attempt to drive it away.

The school needed to find around £22,000 to replace the minibus and is still some way from its target, despite goodwill from the community bringing in generous donations.

One parent of a pupil at The Willows, Emma Coddington, set up a GoFundMe page straight after the theft which is still raising cash to help. It can be reached via https://tinyurl.com/upnd8hyv.

And Thurcroft Miners Institute and Recreation Club on Catherine Street, Thurcroft, handed over £1,011.32 to try and help The Willows.

Others have also rallied round to help.

Headteacher Mrs Rachael Booth told the Advertiser: “Someone on Facebook posted a picture of a burnt-out bus and said it might be ours.

“Then we got a bill from the recovery company for £1,000.

“We are fundraising and we found out that.”

Ms Booth said that the minibus - which has been identified as the school’s lost vehicle - was found in a field in Tickhill.

It had been stripped and burnt out.

Ms Booth said that fundraising is still ongoing and she has been heartened by the public’s support.

She said: “I think that at the last count we are about £5-8,000 short of what we need.

“We have had some great responses from people doing coffee mornings and so on to help us.

“You always hear about people being mean so to hear that the community wanted to give back to the school is wonderful.”