Thugs wreck van used by Age UK to help the elderly in Portsmouth

VANDALS have written off a van and damaged another vehicle that are used as part of a service to help adapt the homes of the elderly.

By Millie Salkeld

Published 24th Oct 2020, 07:00 BST

Updated 24th Oct 2020, 18:16 BST

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Staff at Age UK Portsmouth were left ‘saddened’ after two of their vans were damaged during what is believed to be an unsuccessful attempted theft to bust the locks and prize open the doors last month.

One van has since been written off while the other needed repairs to a broken light and dents in the doors.

The vans are used by the charity’s gardening and handy person service which are currently helping to adapt people’s properties so they can remain independent at home after they have been discharged from hospital.

An Age Uk Portsmouth van that has been damaged by vandals. The charity's other van was written off due to the severe damage.

An Age Uk Portsmouth van that has been damaged by vandals. The charity's other van was written off due to the severe damage.

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Deputy chief executive officer Rory Massey said: ‘We at Age UK Portsmouth are saddened by these actions as it has resulted in older people being left without support.

‘With the number of Covid-19 cases increasing, more local residents being discharged from hospital and temperatures lowering as we enter the Christmas period, there is a true to demand for assistance in the community and now that assistance has been reduced by this malicious act.’

The incident was reported to Portsmouth City Council in the hope that nearby CCTV would have caught the thugs in the act but the council told the charity that low tree canopies means someone may have climbed over the fence out of sight of the camera.

The charity is now fundraising to purchase a new van so they can carry on their services.

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A police spokeswoman said: ‘We received a report that between 4pm on September 18 and 8am on September 21, damage was caused to a Fiat Scudo on Fratton Road in Portsmouth.

‘The damage is believed to have been caused by someone attempting to break into the van. Anyone with information can phone 101 with the reference 44200402171.

To donate visit justgiving.com/ageukportsmouth or call 023 9286 2121.

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