Churchwarden angry after theft of Smarties

A churchwarden is fuming after his car was stolen along with 120 packets of Smarties intended to help raise money for terminally ill children. The blue Vauxhall Zafira was stolen from Chris Tyler's driveway in Dover in the early hours of the morning last Thursday. It was later found nearby.



Mr Tyler, 56, a churchwarden at Charlton Church in Tower Hamlets, said: "I think the keys may have fallen out of my pocket onto the grass in front of our house. I had got back from picking my wife up from the train station and went back out to lock the car up. Later I noticed the keys weren't on me, but I thought they must be somewhere in the house and went to bed."

The next morning Mr Tyler looked out of his bedroom window to see the driveway empty. He added: "I'm only annoyed because of what was in the car and what it was intended for. The idea was to give the Smarties away to the congregation and ask them to fill them up with 20ps and return them. That would have raised a few hundred pounds.



"It was something that would have been used for the children at Demelza House. Luckily I've already had calls from congregation members and we are going to pull together to buy more Smarties. When you take a car there are things that are more precious than personal belongings, and I want the people who did this to know that." A Kent Police spokesperson said four teenagers had been charged in connection with the incident.