A woman faced with losing her prized caravan hired a microlight to fly over a travellers’ site to track it down.

She said: “The police were useless – they would not go onto the traveller’s site involved and I was told ‘they won’t let us in.’

“I was told they sent a drone up but couldn’t see it. We arranged a microlight (a small aircraft) to go and get pictures to show our caravan was there.”

The woman, who doesn’t wish to be named, called the police after thieves moved farm machinery and removed locks to steal her rare imported caravan from Manor Farm on Church Road, Wentworth, last Thursday evening (November 2).

She was told by witnesses that it had been spotted travelling through Haddenham that evening before ending up in Willingham.

Police flew a drone over the site to try to locate the caravan but the attempt was unsuccessful and the woman was told it was unsafe for officers to go onto the site.

But she took the matter into her own hands and arranged for a small aircraft to be flown over the site and, contrary to what she was told by police, the caravan was spotted.

She has since been reunited with the caravan after it was found dumped in a nearby field on Saturday (November 4) but says she was shocked at the lack of support she received from the authorities.

“Do we have to turn into vigilantes to get justice?” she said.

“It’s disgusting how we have been treated. A constable spoke to me on the phone and said ‘Where do you think we’re going to get a van load of police from to go in there?’

“‘Joe Public’ needs to be aware that we’re pretty much on our own.”

A police spokesman said: “Officers attended the location of where it was believed the stolen caravan was and also used a drone to look over the site, however these attempts were unsuccessful.

“Due to officer safety it was not safe or legal for them to enter the site.

“There was insufficient information for officers to be able to obtain a warrant to access the site. However, the caravan has since been recovered and returned to its owners.”

The theft was the second from the same farm in the last month. Burglars stole a Kubota ATV vehicle, gardening equipment and tripped the electricity, spoiling £4,000 worth of meat in the process, on October 8.