Stolen pink quad bike found in Ossett returned to little girl, 6, after burglaries

On Monday, North Yorkshire Police issued an appeal for information after four burglaries took place sometime between 1am and 3.30am on Saturday, 13 June in the Smeaton area of North Yorkshire..

Offenders had gained entry to two garages and two sheds at four different addresses in Little Smeaton and Kirk Smeaton before leaving with the pink quad bike, a Lay-Z Spa Paris hot tub and two drills.

Following enquiries, officers located the quad at an address in Ossett, West Yorkshire and returned it to its owner on Wednesday.

The little girl’s family, who hadn’t yet worked out how they were going to break the news to her that it had gone missing, before they were notified by the police that it had been recovered, said: “Once again many thanks for you and your team’s effort and determination to recover the quad bike, we are very grateful and you have made our granddaughter a very happy little girl!”

Police Investigator David Pegg, who is one of the force’s Burglary Coordinators, said: “Waking up to find out that you have been burgled is one of the most terrifying things that can happen to anyone.

“I’m absolutely chuffed that we were able to locate and return the quad bike to the little girl so quickly.

“Her family never thought she would see it again and so they were delighted when we let them know we had located it.”

The investigation into the four burglaries is ongoing.

Anyone who witnessed suspicious activity in the area or has information, including any CCTV or dash-cam footage, is asked to call 101 quoting the below incident numbers.

Alternatively, please email [email protected] and [email protected]

Little Smeaton: stolen hot tub incident – 12200099401

Water Lane, Kirk Smeaton: pink quad bike incident – 12200099448

Water Lane, Kirk Smeaton: shed broken into, nothing stolen 12200100387

Hodge Lane, Kirk Smeaton: 2 drills stolen from a shed- 12200099402

Officers would also like to hear from anyone who has seen or is offered any of the other items for sale under suspicious circumstances.

Information about protecting your property can be found at northyorkshire.police.uk/homesecurity