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The owner of a stolen caravan has spoken of her shock after her “stolen” mobile home was tracked down to a vehicle with an 11-year-old boy in the driver’s seat,
Thieves allegedly ripped out the high-security trackers before snatching the caravan from a holiday park near Thirsk, North Yorkshire. The caravan was stopped while being towed by a black BMW on the M1.
Story of the incident went viral after police said they discovered a boy behind the steering wheel.
A schoolboy was allegedly found behind the wheel, according to police
(North Yorkshire Police/PA Wire)
Owner Janine Forth reacted on Facebook with a post in which she said: “Well….. that caravan was mine. We arrived at the caravan site just as they had hitched it up and were driving away with it.”
She continued “If it wasn’t for quick thinking and the amazing response from the police God knows what would have happened. It had all the up-to-date security, the first thing they did when they broke in was wreck the front end to get the tracker out.
“We could not have had better security.
“All I can say is that for those who leave their pets in their caravan whilst they go out, please don’t! Thank God ours was with us safe.”
An 11-year-old boy was arrested after police stopped the BMW towing the caravan on Thursday afternoon.
The vehicle was intercepted on the M1 after it left the A1, at Hook Moor Interchange near Garforth, around 36 miles from the holiday park.
The boy was arrested on suspicion of offences including theft, burglary, going equipped for theft, and motoring offences including dangerous driving. He was questioned and then released on conditional police bail.
North Yorkshire Police added: “Thanks to the quick work of our skilled roads policing officers, our control room and intelligence team working in the background, the rightful owners have been updated that their caravan had been found.”
Officers advised caravan owners to take extra precautions after seeing a surge of thefts in the area.
