Buggy recovered but trashed

A buggy stolen from a Masterton retirement village has been recovered by police - but only after being trashed by thieves.

Police recovered the stolen buggy, which had been driven around the area, from a Masterton address.

The buggy, a golfcart-like vehicle used for transporting elderly people, was stolen from a retirement village some time around October 22.

Senior Sergeant Warwick Burr said police recovered the buggy from a residential property in Cornwall St along with other stolen property from the area.

The house was occupied by a family which included young people. Other unrelated young people were also living at the address.

"Our understanding is that this vehicle had been driven around the area at different times in the evening," he said.

Police had received a tip-off about the buggy about a week ago.

Mr Burr said there had been a trend in recent burglaries in which items such as chainsaws, motorbikes and small machinery were taken from garages or sheds. He urged people to call police if they saw anything out of the ordinary and to make sure storage facilities were secure.

"We just want to encourage people to let us know if property turns up at their address and they don't know where it's come from and it looks out of place."