Telford transport firm which drives disabled children forced to close after £100k raids
A business that took disabled children to school has been forced to shut down after thieves stole more than £100,000 worth of equipment – including a minibus.
Six people have been left without a job following two burglaries at Assist Patient Transport Ltd in Madeley, Telford, in just over 12 months.
Bosses said today they had "no choice" but to close, leaving 14 children without school transportation to and from two schools.
Offenders broke into the business on the Court 2000 Industrial Estate this month and made off with a minibus, along with £40,000 worth of industrial tools used to maintain the vehicle. In January last year, about £70,000 worth of equipment was stolen in another raid.
Director Mike Little has offered a £5,000 reward to anyone who can help them recover the tools and minibus.
He said: "We are absolutely devastated. It's not just impacted six people but six families, plus the children we took to school.
"They took everything. They literally took what they saw, and even smashed a cabinet where we stored other tools.
"I wish I didn't have to shut the company down, but it would cost me thousands of pounds to replace the tools, and I just do not have the money to do that. If we do get the tools back within two weeks, we might still be able to carry on with the business.
"And because of the burglary last year we can't claim on the insurance, which is one of the main reasons we had to make the difficult decision to close down.
"I think it must have been more than one person as the tools are very heavy.
"We're meant to have security and CCTV cameras on the premisses but even that didn't stop them.
"It's hard to believe that no-one heard them breaking into the building as there were over 100 hit marks on the door.
"I also think they must have used the van as a get-away vehicle and as a way of carrying all the tools. I don't think they understand what they have done and what their actions have caused."
The burglary happened between midnight and 10.45am on February 1. Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting incident number 210 of 1st February 2015.
