Thieves cut through a fence and chopped back bushes to steal a lorry bought buy a family circus less than a week ago.

Now Circus Tyanna, which is run by two families and has only been going a year, is offering a reward for the safe return of the vehicle, they were hoping to use as transport for their touring show.

The white Iveco box lorry, registration number Y988 0AJ was being stored on an Ely industrial estate while it awaited repair work. It was taken between 7.30pm on Monday and 5.30am on Tuesday.

A reward is on offer via a Facebook appeal for information for its return.

Jemma Tyler, who is co-ordinating the appeal on behalf of her friends at Circus Tyanna, said: “The family don’t have a lot of money because of what they do, they have saved up to buy the van so they are very upset it has been stolen.”

She added: “It was being stored ready for work to be done for its MOT. We’re hoping someone took it to do a job of some kind and that they will dump it somewhere where we can find it. But the problem is these lorries are sometimes taken because people want the box off the back to turn into a shed.

“The thieves went to a lot of trouble to take it, cutting through the fence and cutting the bushes back, they obviously didn’t want to damage it. It is only a chain link fence so they could easily have driven through it. We have asked businesses in the area to check their CCTV. We don’t expect to see a face or anything like that because they would have been aware there were cameras, but it might help narrow down the time it was taken.”

Anyone who spots the van or has information about the van’s whereabouts should contact Ms Tyler on: 0778-8612629 or Circus Tyanna on 0779-2809001.