A KIND stranger bought a lady with spina bifida a new mobility scooter after it was stolen outside her home in Amesbury.

On Easter Sunday (April 17), Archers Gate resident Della Chant, 57, left her mobility scooter outside her house.

She forgot that she had left the keys on the scooter, and, at around 1.30pm, it was stolen.

Della, who lives on her own, relies on her mobility scooter to maintain her independence.

Her sister Katrina Street decided to go to the nearby pub, The Orchard, to ask if they had any CCTV footage of the incident.

She spoke to the manager of the pub, Suzanne Molyneux Downs, 46, who decided to source her a scooter.

Katrina said: “I just went to the pub to ask if their CCTV reached the house and spoke to Suzanne about it.

“She said that it was awful, and that she was going to get her another scooter, and raise money. I told her that there was no need.

“In the space of a couple of hours, she had sourced a scooter and paid for it – in the space of 24 hours, my sister had had her scooter stolen, and then given a replacement.”

Suzanne, who runs the pub and also lives above it, said: “It was pretty awful, an absolutely disgusting act.

“Della relies on the scooter to get out. I do not actually know her. I only know her sister, having seen her around the village.”

Suzanne said that she heard about the theft first on Facebook, and then when Katrina came to see her.

She sourced an almost-new, disused, mobility scooter through locals in the village.

“It was quite new and still under warranty, so I knew it wouldn’t be a risk,” she said.

“My friend sold it to me at a reduced price – I think they paid £1,799 for it and I gave them £200.”

Suzanne, who has been working at the pub for four years, said she was either going to source a scooter or raise the money through fundraising at the pub.

“It has taken off online. I have had so many people messaging me trying to donate,” she said.

The manager added: “It is nice to do something nice. I think as a community pub we should be doing these sorts of things. It is about getting together and looking after each other.

“It is also so important for Della to get her independence back.”

Katrina, who went to collect the scooter from Suzanne, said it was an “absolutely amazing” act of kindness, and her sister was “overwhelmed” and “couldn’t believe it”.

"As I said to Suzanne, there are so many horrible things that you read about. She does not know my sister. I only know her from going to the pub. She did that for someone she doesn't even know."

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