Bouncy castles stolen in 2017 found by Nottinghamshire victims

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-53370850

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Bouncy castles which were stolen three years ago have been found after the victims tracked them down online and hired them.

Nine out of the 12 stolen bouncy castles were picked up by police after a tip-off from the inflatable owners.

Nottinghamshire Police said the victims had been searching for them online since they were taken from an industrial unit in Hucknall in 2017.

Two men were arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods on Thursday.

The pair, aged 33 and 34, have been released under investigation.

Officers said the 12 bouncy castles, belonging to Nottinghamshire-based company Marshall Events, were worth about £20,000.

One, called the Gladiator Joust, is still missing and officers are appealing for help to trace it, while the two others are believed to have been sold.

PC Jane Gibson said: "Since the burglary in 2017, the victims have periodically checked selling sites and Facebook to try and recover their stolen items - some of which were bespoke to them.

"They discovered their castles being advertised for hire in the last few weeks after all this time.

"They had started to hire the castles and then build a picture of where their property was being stored."

She said officers attended a pub in Bramcote, waited for two men to return to dismantle two castles hired by the victims, and then arrested them.

"The victims are clearly delighted to have the majority of their property back and have worked extremely hard on their own to trace the items."

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