A SCOUT group may be forced to cancel future camping trips after a trailer with £7,000 of vital equipment was stolen from the leader's driveway.
The trailer full of outdoor equipment, including climbing and camping equipment, expensive jump walking stilts, racks and a camping fridge, was taken from the home of Scout leader Lee Chandler, who lives in Great Baddow, during the August bank holiday weekend.
The Scouts had just returned from a summer camp and the equipment was waiting to be unpacked when it was swiped by thieves.
Mr Chandler explained that future trips away for the 1st Ingatestone and Fryerning Scout group would be in jeopardy if they could not recover the trailer, as the group relies on it to carry all of the camping equipment they use, and they cannot afford to replace it.
"The Explorers had just come back from a week in Derbyshire. We had four young people taking on the role of organising the week's camp and afterwards the leaders went home looking forward to the last week before the start of the new term.
Then bang, the trailer was stolen from the back of my car with some of the camping equipment still in it," explained Mr Chandler.
"The trailer is used on every camp we go on. We've got a camp coming up at the end of the month and I'm going to have to see if we can borrow a trailer for that.
"At the moment, I am going to have to think about summer camps next year. I may have to cut back or cancel them as we can't do it without a trailer."
The trailer and equipment are usually used about once a month, and Mr Chandler says he hasn't heard any news on its whereabouts from the police after he reported it stolen.
"It was stolen off the back of my car, even though it was locked on to it. We had just returned from the camp, and there was still a lot of stuff on the trailer that we use for camps but I store at home," he said.
"I called the police but I haven't heard anything, and we haven't made any plans for what to do if we don't get it back, but replacing everything will cost us around £7,000.
"With the next year in planning and the Scouts normally camping most months of the year and the Explorers five times a year, camps are going to be that bit harder without the trailer."
If you have any information on the whereabouts of the trailer, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or call Essex Police on 101.
