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Delivery van stolen overnight and dumped in river

BBC A white van with Maidenhead Aquatics written on it, sitting in the River Taff, with the bridge and water behind it and a grassy verge in front with a brown dog sat on the grassBBC
The van was spotted, dumped in the River Taff at Blackweir on Friday morning

An aquatics store has been left unable to deliver its orders after its van was stolen overnight and dumped in a nearby river.

Staff at Maidenhead Aquatics, based at Pugh’s Garden Centre in Radyr, Cardiff, were shocked when they arrived at work on Friday morning to find damage to their site, and the vehicle missing.

The van was later spotted in the River Taff, close to Blackweir Bridge.

Police have launched an investigation and are appealing for information.

Pugh's Garden Centre A metal gate which is heavily dented, with the bumper of a van in front of it, including the number plate, and the shadows of two people visible on the groundPugh's Garden Centre
Debris from the van's bumper was strewn in front of the broken gate at the garden centre

The van was found nearly five miles (eight kilometres) from the garden centre, dumped in a river near a public footpath within Bute Park.

Alicia Hulbert, assistant manager at the company's Cardiff shop, said: “It’s a strange one, to pinch a van to then drive it into a river.

“When we first drove in this morning, the gate was completely ripped off from the post.”

She added they could see debris from the van’s bumper on the ground, but only became aware of where the vehicle had ended up when people posted pictures on social media.

CCTV footage showed two people wearing balaclavas who “looked very young”, she added.

She said the staff and customers were all really angry and concerned with the “phone ringing off the hook” all morning.

“We are obviously concerned about wildlife, and about a van with diesel and oil being dumped in the river,” she said.

Pugh's Garden Centre Smashed window door, with significant amounts of smashed up glass on the groundPugh's Garden Centre
The business was left damaged, as well as without its delivery van

Ms Hulbert said the van was being recovered and police would be doing forensic work on it, but it would then be a “write-off”.

The business now needs to fix the damage to the building and secure a new vehicle as they are unable to do any deliveries in the meantime.

“Thank goodness we never keep anything in the van, so it was completely empty,” she said.

“We can’t work it out, it’s such a strange thing to do, it’s bonkers.”

South Wales Police said the force was contacted in the early hours of Friday morning after the van was discovered and an investigation was underway.

“Work is ongoing to recover it from the water,” it said.

Maidenhead Aquatics has 150 stores across the UK and specialises in livestock, plants and products for fishkeeping in aquariums and ponds.