TWO Nelson pensioners are devastated after their caravan was stolen from a storage yard, just weeks after they had finished paying for it.

Cyril and Marie Rainford, of Walton Lane, are both disabled and had made the last payment of the £2,500 cost of the two-berth caravan last month.

They had planned to go to Blackpool for the weekend for Cyril's 70th birthday but when they went to the council-owned caravan storage yard, in Dent Street, Colne, on Thursday, it had gone.

Cyril said: "It's our only way of getting away.

"We both gave up smoking to save up for it and we can't afford hotels. We have also got two little dogs which we can take with us in the caravan. My wife was really upset."

The caravan is a cream Avondale Sandmartin with a black Pendle-witch motif on either side and hand-shaped reflectors across the back. It contained various items of clothing and equipment, including some ladies Adidas tracksuits, a Melamine dinner set, electric kettles, cutlery, a 40 litre aqua roll for transporting water and a Waste Master which takes waste water from the caravan.

Mr Rainford, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, is a diabetic and has had a quadruple heart by-pass, said: "You can't put a value on what these things are worth. They are just personal items.

"We were taking the sleeping bags to the caravan at about 2.30pm when my wife said 'the van's not there'. I thought she was pulling my leg at first.

"They had broken the number plate off and that's all that was left. There is a caravan repair shop in the yard and the man there said the gates had been busted at 5am when he arrived but he didn't realise our caravan had gone.

"I don't think we will see it again now and we can't afford to get another one. I don't know what we will do."

If anyone has seen the caravan or knows of its whereabouts, Mr Rainford can be contacted on 01282 612220.