Wickford: Curry kitchen theft

Ron Eldridge, 61, who together with his wife Maureen runs the Great British Curry Pot, fears the loss of the trailer has dealt his business a devastating blow from which it may never recover.

The distinctive unit, which has a picture of a bulldog next to a sizzling pot of curry painted on its side, was taken from outside Mr Eldridge's home in Cranfield Park Road, Wickford.

Mr Eldridge started up the business two years ago and has since built up a solid base of customers in Wickford, Basildon and Corringham.

He still has another similar van in which he will be able to continue making deliveries.

However, he fears this will not be enough to cover the large area to which he delivers.

He added: "This is just going to kill my business in Corringham - it will finish me off.

"Everybody uses us round here - we're very well known. It takes a long time to build up a reputation and I'm afraid if we're not there people will just look somewhere else instead.

"It was parked where it's always parked. I went down to London to get my spices, but I didn't notice it was missing."

It was only when Mr Eldridge returned that he realised the trailer had been stolen, at which point he called the police.

He said: "I was flabbergasted - why would someone want to steal it? It's so distinctive, it wouldn't be of use to anyone else."

Mr Eldridge designed the mobile trailers, which are the size of caravans, himself and estimates their value at £12,000 each.

Each is equipped with tandoori ovens and refrigerators and can be towed by his car.

He added: "I didn't insure them either because it never occurred to me they would stolen."

Anyone with any information about the theft, which happened sometime overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, should contact CDA Martine Jones at Basildon police on 01268 532212 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.