A METAL elephant stolen from a playground has been recovered.

The 1.5 tonne piece of play equipment was recovered in the early hours of this morning.

It was stolen from Grove Road playfield in Tiptree.

Terry Slater, chairman of Tiptree Parish Council, which owns the elephant, said it was found near Seldon Road by the Grove Park keeper.

He added: “I think the people who took it realised it wasn’t something they could get rid of easily and panicked a little bit.

“It is damaged so we will have to spend money on it but on the whole we are happy to have it back.”

The elephant was taken from the field between 4pm on March 28 and 8am on March 29.