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Minibus full of snakes, meerkats, spiders and birds of prey stolen | Minibus full of snakes, meerkats, spiders and birds of prey stolen |
(about 9 hours later) | |
A converted minibus containing £20,000 of animals including snakes, meerkats, birds of prey and a poisonous spider was stolen from a car park. | |
The vehicle belonged to Natural History Presentations, which visits schools in the West Midlands to do presentations. | |
It was taken from St Andrew's church car park in Sedgley on Tuesday. | |
The minibus was later found abandoned near a row of garages in Central Drive, Lower Gornal. All animals apart from two snakes have been found. | |
Owner Paul Beech, 59, said he had left the van unoccupied for about two hours while he went to the Bulls Head pub to discuss a job. | |
'Sheer panic' | |
"When I saw they were gone I went blank," he said. | |
"It was sheer panic." | |
He said he recovered most of the animals - including the poisonous Chilean rose tarantula - when police called him in the early hours of the morning to say they had found the LDV Convoy minibus. | |
Mr Beech said he would return to try and find the two missing snakes - a carpet python and California king snake. Neither are poisonous, he added. | |
The minibus had minor damage to it from where the lock had been forced. | |
"The animals were the main thing," Mr Beech said. | |
"You can always get another vehicle. It was a big relief." |