www.nfed.co.uk

Stolen from Milford on Sea last night, after 5pm and before 7am this morning, a Bateson Deauville trailer but with a blue stripe instead of the more usual yellow.

It was made in 2004, serial number 31496.
Axle numbers 04/106444/009 and 04/106443/017

Crime Reference number 44110517465

Had 2 wheel clamps and a tow hitch lock on. One wheel clamp has been forced apart and left on site, the other has gone with the trailer - perhaps they have raised the tow hitch high so only the rear wheels connect with the road.

These photos were taken when it was new - so it is dirtier and there are marks on it now, such as teeth marks on the mudguards where a youngster chewed, there are 'swing' marks in arcs from binder twine tied to hitching rings and the number plate is now a square one rather than the rectangle shown in the photo. Most importantly there is no central partition in, just two long bars, one front and one rear - both bent slightly - as our horse likes travelling solo.

It was parked in a small wood up a private drive, totally out of sight from anyone simply passing; fortunately it was outside the horses' field so fortunately no gates or fences were opened / damaged.

Any information please contact Hampshire Police or 07986 864927

Steve, there was something on "another" forum about one of these Bateson Deauville's being spotted in a layby on the hursley to winchester road and it being reported to police. Could it possibly be the same one? Wouln't it be brilliant if it was?

I reported a suspicious one of these this morning to Hampshire police..

can't recall if it has a blue stripe or not.

It was on the Romsey to Winchester road, in a lay-by, between Hursley and Ampfield (just down from yellow dot nursery). I advised the police on 101 at 9am this morning , they phoned back at 9.34 to say they had checked it , but it wasn't reported as stolen.

I've contacted the owner & let her know, she was going to ring the police & let me know. If I get any more news I'll post it here.

Steve

Well done everyone, the trailer has now been recovered. Please see the following Email from the owner..

Hello again Steve

I can't thank you enough. We have our trailer back and in one piece too.

A lady from the Hursley area reported to the police seeing the trailer abandoned in a layby this morning, and then obviously went onto a website to report it and eventually it came through to you.

We rang the police to see if they could confirm it was ours, and then the lady rang me to tell me about it. Unfortunately she has withheld her number so I cannot thank her properly.

We cannot think why it was abandoned, everything, including the water container and the grooming kit, was still inside. The only damage was they had removed the number plate. But the web site really works; so too does having photos and a note of the serial number as the police were able to identify it for us. The tow hitch lock was still intact and in place, so don't know how they managed to tow it.

The police were great and stayed by the trailer until I got there - it took me an hour so it was a relief to know that they were guarding it for me.

I have spent the day warning our horse friends, posting notices in saddleries, etc. Now my adrenalin levels are going back to normal and we are treating ourselves to fish and chips with a bottle of wine.

Please post our thanks on the sites; they really do work. We are just so grateful to everyone for their support and help. Crofton tomorrow, for dressage. Just need new number plate and wheel clamps.

With best wishes and many thanks,
Monica and Zoe

so glad that this turned out to have a happy ending. So, it would appear that "wasting time" on facebook and internet chat forums can be a good thing sometimes!

Blinking brilliant I would say and I have never thought of chat forums as a waste of time, the amount of good things that come out of them never gets daylight. Well done all.