A DISABLED pensioner has her freedom back after her stolen access ramp was returned.

Twin Valley Homes workers Kenneth Whalen and Adam Kenyon found 67-year-old Alison Moorcroft’s abandoned metal ramp in Longton Close, Blackburn, two days after it was taken from her home in Frederick Row, half a mile away.

Mrs Moorcroft, a great-grandmother, cannot leave the house without the equipment.

Mr Whalen, who works for Twin Valley’s environmental services section, said he and his colleague originally thought the stainless steel ramp had fallen off a delivery van.

The 40-year-old said: “When I first saw the ramp, I thought it might have fallen off a van, so I took it home.

“Then later I saw the report of the theft in the Lancashire Telegraph.

“I tried ringing the police, but got no answer, so I took the ramp up to the station.”

A spokeswoman for Lancashire Police said the ramp had been handed in to Greenbank police station, and returned to Mrs Moorcroft the next day.

Mrs Moorcroft said: “I just want to say thank you to the people who found it.

“We’ll just get the ramp back in and I can be free again. I’m so, so grateful. The only damage is that the plugs, which hold it in place, have been ripped out.

“After this, it’ll have to be made a bit more secure.”

The ramp, stolen on June 29, was installed by Mrs Moorcroft’s husband, David, after she suffered a stroke three years ago which left her paralysed down one side.

Mr Whalen said it was not the first time he and his colleagues had helped recover stolen goods.

He said: “We come across things like this all the time. A few years ago we noticed a guy had crashed a motorbike into some shrubs in Morecambe Road.

“We threw it on the back of the van because we didn’t believe it was his and took it to the police and it turned out that was stolen too. It’s part of the job.”