TWO community police officers have been praised by charity shop staff after helping find and return stolen stock.

PCSOs Cheryl Taylor and Julie Swift traced a donated pram just a day after it was shoplifted from the Mencap charity shop in Chorley Old Road.

Shop staff were already reeling from a burglary overnight when a woman stole a luxury Baby Merc pushchair worth £70 from the store and ran off with it between 10am and 10.30am on March 31.

Amy Wilding, project manager at Bolton Mencap, said: "The police and the PCSOs do not get enough praise for their work so we just want to thank them.

"Seventy pounds is a lot of money to an independent charity like ourselves, so we really appreciated the effort they went to.

"I hope they get the recognition they deserve."

PCSO Taylor said she and her colleague PCSO Swift went to take more detailed statements from shop staff the day after the theft occurred.

PCSO Taylor said: "Within 10 minutes we returned to the Halliwell UCAN in Hatfield Road, where we are based, and we recognised the same pram."

It turns out a couple in possession of the child's carriage had innocently bought the stolen pram from someone in exchange for £20 and their old pram.

PCSO Taylor said: "A language barrier meant we are not sure if she approached them in the street or came to their door.

"They were left out of pocket themselves. They're victims as well.

"The guy was mortified that it had been stolen and he was upset enough to take it back to the shop with us.

"By luck, their original pram had been dumped outside the Mencap shop.

"Unfortunately we can't identify the original thief and enquiries continue."

It was among the last action the police pair enjoyed with one another since PCSO Swift moved to the Farnworth team on Monday while PCSO Taylor remains with the Halliwell team.

PCSO Taylor said: "Most of Mencap's stock sells for £10 and under and it was quite a good pram so was quite valuable to them.

"Unfortunately the shop is regularly targeted by people climbing through the back yard.

"It's an ongoing problem and we're trying to help them and they have installed extra security measures.

"It was luck we found the missing pram on this occasion but when items are reported stolen we do look around and target locations and check."

Mencap later sold the recovered pram for £65, money that will go towards helping people with learning disabilities.