A CWMBRAN woman living with cerebral palsy has been left unable to get about after her vital mobility scooter was stolen.

Julie Larke, from Pembrey Path, St Dials, woke up on Wednesday, July 28, morning to find her £3,500 scooter had been taken from outside her home.

The scooter was securely locked to the house, but the lock had been damaged.

Although Ms Larke's father Dennis said the scooter was later found by his granddaughter's boyfriend Ryan Gwillym, it was severely damaged.

"Ryan has been fantastic the last few days," he said. "He spent two days searching for it. When he saw Julie's scooter with a known 'scooter speeder' in the area. He knew it was Julie's.

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"There are multiple damages to the scooter. The lock is off, wiring is hanging outside, the panels are broken and the basket on the back is bent."

Mr Larke added his daughter has been left distressed by the incident as she now has no way of getting about.

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"Julie is 49, deaf, disabled and communicates through sign language," he said. "She has no way of getting about now, she can't go anywhere on her own."

He added the scooter was locked up outside each day as it was too big to fit through the front door.

"This shouldn't happen to anyone," he said. "How can someone have the audacity to steal a mobility scooter outside someone's house? We managed to get the scooter back through work ourselves and through friends. Hopefully we can get Julie a working scooter soon."

Mr Larke rang the police Wednesday morning and has since been to the station where he said they didn't know about the incident.

"I am disgusted with how the police have been. Yesterday they rang me and said that I should have left the scooter with the person who stole it and not got it ourselves. I got a telling off. I rang them three times and asked them to pick it up urgently.

"They made us feel not important enough, that they were too busy to help a disabled person get her mobility scooter back.

"I am not sure what to do now about getting justice. I want the repercussions to be handled in the right way through the law."

A Gwent Police spokesperson said: "We received a report of a theft in St Dials, Cwmbran at around 8.50am on Wednesday, July 28.

"A blue KymCo Maxer mobility scooter was reportedly taken from outside an address in Pembrey Path at some point between midnight and 8.50am on Wednesday, July 28.

"The scooter was kept securely at the property and the lock was reportedly cut off. Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with information or has CCTV or dashcam footage from the area is asked to call Gwent Police, quoting log reference 2100264932.

"You can also contact us via social media on Facebook or Twitter, or you can report any information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."