An elderly couple in Thornton Heath have been left distraught after finding their car stolen from the disabled parking bay in front of their home.
The car, a teal [green-blue] Nissan Sunny, vanished at some time on Sunday [February 26].
Bert and Daphne Stonard, who live on Wiltshire Road, couldn't believe someone would take the vehicle.
Mrs Stonard, 83, went to bed at about 6.30pm on Sunday evening because she wasn't feeling very well and got out of bed at 9pm to go to the bathroom.
"I have a habit of tweaking the curtain back, just to check on the car and I said to my husband, 'the car's gone'," she explained, breaking into tears.
"He said 'alright'. I said, 'no the car's gone'."
Mr Stonard, 85, couldn't believe what he had been told and said he didn't take his wife seriously at first.
"I thought my wife was joking when she told me," he said.
"It's just a shock. It was a beautiful car for its age [it was built in 1994].
"I rely on the car. I cannot walk down to a bus stop unfortunately because it's so painful on my legs and back and because of the various other problems I've got."
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Mr Stonard is diabetic, has a lot of trouble walking and has a catheter bag, while his wife has angina, a crumbling spine and a lung condition called COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].
The couple also have a wet room and a stair lift installed inside the house.
They used the car for hospital trips, going to the shops and visiting family.
Mr Stonard had to cancel a hospital appointment at St Georges Hospital, in Tooting, on Wednesday [March 1] because he can't get around without the car.
He said: "It's like a nightmare because that's the only thing we had to get around and about.
"I can't understand it. It's got an automatic steering lock on it as you take the key out and there was an immobilisor fitted. I can't understand how they could get in to a car that's so securely locked and take it without anybody seeing it.
"My wife said a few days ago she saw a white van driving up and down the road and slow down by our car but she didn't think much of it."
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The couple will now have to try and find another car to replace it as soon as possible, to be able to go about their normal life.
Mrs Stonard said: "We only get a pension so we have to try and scrape some money together otherwise we can't get out [of the house].
"It's like both being in a dream and waking up, having dreamed the same dream that you've got this lovely little car. It was immaculate. It had one previous lady owner and it was serviced every year. He [Mr Stonard] was so proud of it. Somebody's taken it and God knows what's happened.
"How can anybody be so mean to steal from a disabled bay?"
The couple had only had the car for four months before it was stolen.
"We had a second hand Mazda for years and years and I loved that car but the distributor went on it and we couldn't get the part so we had to have it crushed," said Mrs Stonard.
"Within a couple of days this beautiful little car came along. My daughter [who had found it online] said it looked like new. It was absolutely pristine."
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Police confirmed they were called at 10.50pm on February 26 to reports of a car being stolen from outside a residential address in Wiltshire Road. No arrests have been made and enquiries continue.
Mrs Stonard said she has been informed the chances of getting it back are slim.
She said: "The police told us the likelihood of getting it back is not good.
"I just think, are they going to do this to other disabled people like us who absolutely love their little car?"
Source: www.bing.com