A CARER said it was ‘gutting’ to find out his life changing mode of transport was thrown off a cliff at Widemouth.

George Gifford, 26, who lives in Stratton, and works for a supported living agency, supporting adults with learning difficulties, was given an electric scooter last year by his employer to help him progress in his work.

He discovered the scooter was missing on Sunday, June 5, so he put a post on Facebook to try and track down its whereabouts.

Mr Gifford told the Post: “About 20 minutes later one of my friends phoned me, he works up near Millook, and said I think my friend saw it at the bottom of the abseil cliff.”

Mr Gifford said the bike, taken sometime during the night of Saturday, June 4, or in the early hours of Sunday, June 5, was thrown over the Black Rock abseiling cliff.

He said he saw tracks showing whoever took it had tried to push it off one section of the cliff, but then wheeled it back and turned it around before pushing it off another section.

Mr Gifford, who said he cannot drive a car because of eyesight problems, recovered what was left of the scooter on the Sunday morning.

He added of when it was taken: “It had the cover on, the alarm was on as well but it’s not very loud because it’s an electric scooter.

“It’s absolutely gutting. It was an absolute lifeline. My boss bought it for me so I could progress in my work, so I could go on call, and get to the supported living house where I work quicker if I needed to.

“I can’t drive a car. I always just cycled and caught buses, which is great but in the depths of winter, when you are cycling around in the dark and the rain, it’s not that nice.

“[The scooter] just massively improved my quality of life and my own independence. It’s so nice to go to work and not be really sweaty and knackered before starting!”

Mr Gifford’s friend, Andy Hutt, has set up an online ‘crowdfunding’ page to try and raise money for Mr Gifford to buy a new scooter.

Mr Hutt added they would like to know if anyone has information on what happened to the scooter.

Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed the theft of the pea green battery operated scooter, that had been parked in a private driveway in Bowden, Stratton.

A police spokesperson said: “The victim relies heavily on this item to get around so is a particularly cruel theft.”

Anyone with information can contact police on 101 or email [email protected] quoting log number CR/037367/16.

Mr Gifford expressed his thanks to PCSO?Stuart Baxter, of Bude Police, who helped him when the incident was reported.