Winter may be on its way out but things are looking dark and gloomy for Wiltshire locals who have been left high and dry after a thief stole a trailer full of bouncy castle equipment. In the lead up to the summer season of outdoor parties, fetes and festivals, a thief has stolen £12,000 worth of bouncy castles from a decommissioned police trailer parked just off Whitehouse Road. The trailer was being used to store the inflatables and deliver orders to customers across Swindon and the south west region.
Howard Tucker, owner of the bouncy castle hire business is seriously disappointed and says that as well as representing financial loss for his business, local children will now have to miss out.
“This has been a big blow, because five of our eight castles have been taken, including all the children’s party castles and one of the adult versions,” he said. “This is having a big impact because the people who come to us have done so for years and book last minute, so there are going to be a lot of disappointed children at the end of the day.”
Unfortunately this isn’t the first occasion that Tucker and his business have had to face theft, with the storage garage broken into several years ago. While he originally thought it was just someone trying their luck, Tucker maintains that “this time it’s different.” Someone knew what was in the trailer and made a calculated effort to steal it.
While the police are doing everything they can to recover the trailer and its contents they still haven’t managed to pinpoint the culprits.
Gorse Hill PCSO Andy Deller said, “The items that are stolen are of a high value, and there is currently no positive information about the culprit… We would appeal to any member of the public who has seen this trailer, or anyone acting suspiciously or taking photographs in the area.”
While bouncy castle hire businesses are all about bringing fun and enjoyment to the local community, incidents such as this can put a serious dampener on operations. As well as having stringent security measures in place it’s critical to take out a comprehensive bouncy castle insurance policy that covers the cost of theft, as well as equipment damage, injuries and other incidents.
