Thief takes 50-year-old disabled Bishop's Stortford man's treasured trike his father gave him as a present for his 18th birthday, knowing he would never be able to drive on roads

A severely disabled Bishop's Stortford man is unaware his pride and joy – a three-wheeled motorbike – has been stolen.

James Campbell's sisters Sophie Sinclair and Emma Wright are desperate for the red Honda ATC 110 trike to be returned before they have to tell the 50-year-old that his prized possession has been taken.

Jamie was born with hydrocephalus – excess fluid in the brain – and has learning difficulties, which means he is unable to read. The trike was an 18th birthday gift from his dad Duncan, who died in 2020.

Sophie, who lives in Hatfield Heath, said: "As my brother would never be able to drive, my father bought it for his 18th birthday and he's used it off-road on private land ever since.

"My father passed away from dementia at the start of the pandemic and we're all devastated as this bike holds huge sentimental value."

The family used to live at the Hoops pub in Perry Green and moved to Scotland before returning to East Herts

Jamie now lives independently in a flat in Stortford with support from his sisters and carers. Emma kept the trike at her home but, as she is about to move, a friend and neighbour in Much Hadham offered to safeguard it for Jamie.

It was waiting on an Ifor Williams flatbed trailer, ready to be taken to a secure compound, when it was stolen from outside the home in Ducketts Lane, Green Tye.

Footage from a doorbell camera showed it being stolen by someone in a Mercedes 4x4 on Monday (May 30) at 5.30am.

Sophie said: "Despite the clear CCTV images of the car... the police have made no attempt to follow up the crime.

"Can this be right? That in 2022 there are no repercussions for coming onto private property and stealing a vehicle in daylight? I hope that by raising awareness we can at least make the bike too hot to handle."

Local members of Farm Watch, a group aimed at reducing rural crime and deterring criminals, searched for the trike on Monday evening and a drone was used to scour the area but to no avail.

The Honda machine has broken front and back lights and a small rip in the seat – but to Jamie "the sentimental value of this bike is indescribable".