A QUADBIKE ridden by its 17-year-old owner to his school prom last year has been stolen from his family's home in Far Forest.

Oliver Green and mother Adele Green, 46, woke up last Friday to find the £1,000 black CPI XT50, which had been chained up in their garden at Pound Bank, missing.

A West Mercia Police spokeswoman said Ms Green's property backed on to some fields and the thieves has taken the quadbike through a hedge to get away. She added officers had received reports of a white van in the area during the past couple of weeks and were asking anyone who might have seen the "unfamiliar" vehicle to contact them as they believed it could have something to do with the theft.

Ms Green said: "It was taken from right underneath my bedroom window - the dogs did not even bark. No-one heard or saw anything.

"We are all upset about it. The grandchildren used to play on it and ride it through the fields. It was a feeling of disbelief when we discovered it was gone, I am absolutely disgusted - you go through every negative emotion. Someone has come into your house or your garden - you just feel violated. It feels horrible and I have not slept during the night since as I do not feel safe.

"I am also gutted for my son - he was devastated. It was his 16th birthday present."

Mr Green, a former Bewdley High School student, was featured last year in The Shuttle as he turned up to his prom at Spring Grove House, West Midland Safari Park, on the quadbike.

His mother also encouraged neighbours and residents in other areas surrounding Bewdley to be vigilant, saying she had heard of a number of burglaries taking place in rural areas in recent weeks, although police said they had not been aware of a spate of incidents and encouraged people to report any if they had not already done so.

"People need to be aware this is happening and take precautions," Ms Green added.

The police spokeswoman added: "Someone has entered the garden of this property between 10pm on Thursday, April 17 and 6.30am the next day and stolen the quadbike.

"It appears there was a white van in the area a few weeks ago and a couple of days ago. We would ask anyone who saw or heard anything to contact us, particularly if anybody saw an unfamiliar white van in that area. We would like to hear from them as there could be some information that could come from that. Until we get more information about it we do not know whether it is involved or not."

Anyone with information should call 101, quoting incident 106-S-180414, or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.