Actor Ricky Tomlinson has admitted he is “gutted” after thieves made off with his caravan, even though it had no wheels and was propped up on railway sleepers and breeze blocks in a picturesque Cheshire meadow.
The 72-year-old Royle Family star was staying in the £12,000 tourer while filming a nature programme, but had raised it off the ground because it was parked on a flood plain.
Pleading for the return of his treasured 27ft Hobby 635, the 72-year-old said he “can’t believe it happened”.
“It must have been a well-organised gang of thieves because it is a big, six-berth caravan which was not even on wheels,” he told the Daily Mail.
The vehicle was parked at the end of a mile-long country lane in the middle of a meadow and the thieves had to remove a gate from its hinges to make their getaway.
“I am gutted because I was in the process of letting one of my mates use it for a little outing for his two kids,” he added.
Figures from Club Care Insurance show that there is an annual spike in caravan thefts between May and August, with only three per cent of those stolen recovered.
