On May 6 between the hours of 9pm and 6.30am on May 7, Alice Middleton's treasued Mini, Arthur, was stolen.
It has left Alice, 30, heartbroken after stepping on the drive at her St George home to find one of her most treasured possessions gone.
She said: “Everyone knows how important that car is to me. Even my friends know to refer to Arthur as ‘he’ and they were even posting on Facebook, telling everyone I had him since sixth form.”
She says that the selection behind the name was because when she saw him she wanted: “an old-ish British name and everyone knows to refer to him as Arthur”.
She described herself feeling “obviously completely heartbroken” and she says: “When I stepped out onto the drive I knew he had been stolen.
“People asked me if I thought for a split second that I had parked it somewhere else and forgotten, but I knew it was gone.
“That whole day I was just in a massive haze. I was struggling to talk to anyone.”
This instantly had a profound effect on Alice as she began to reflect on all the adventures her and Arthur had together.
However, not only was Arthur important to Alice but also to her father as they would take annual trips to the London to Brighton Mini Run, which will no longer be possible with the loss of Arthur.
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Alice described the event as: “We would spend our time looking at Minis at Brighton Pier. I remember being told by my dad that Arthur wasn't ready one day at the event and that he needed repairs.
“So, my dad went and bought a new Mini for the event and named it Martha, so that it rhymed with Arthur. Whoever has taken the car has broken up the family, it’s a tragedy.”
The aftermath of her loss entailed her coming in contact on Facebook with an old friend named Blake Elkins, 33, who “has shared ownership of a Mini garage” and Alice used to go get work done there for her car.
“He advised me to look around the local area and check the CCTV.”
Blake tried to reassure Alice with some advice. He said: “I told her to share it on Facebook with groups.
"There’s a really good Stolen Cars UK group and thought she could get some help on there.
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"I told her to just keep searching because sometimes people dump the car for 24 hours because of tracking and then they’ll come back and get it.
"I also told her to check random places where you wouldn't expect a car to be dumped, as well as local areas.”
Blake also says that: “She’s had it for a very long time. More than anything it’s sentimental to her and she uses it everyday. It’s very unique to Alice.”
Avon and Somerset have said: “We received a report on Tuesday a car had been stolen from outside a property in the St George area of Bristol.
“A green Mini was taken sometime overnight from an address on Holmes Hill Road.
“Anyone who witnessed anything suspicious in the area between 10.30pm on Monday and 6.30am on Tuesday is asked to call 101 and provide the call handler with the reference 5219099574.”
