A THIEF who stole from a Wokingham charity appears to have given in to his passion for potatoes at the weekend.
He visited Norrey’s Church in the middle of the night prompted, not it seems by a desire to pray, but to make chips – lots of them.
The man, whose image was caught on CCTV camera, took off very early on Sunday morning with a large quantity of the nation’s favourite vegetable in one of Share Wokingham’s mobile transportation cages.
“Potatoes have long been a staple of the British diet,” said Claire Revie Share Wokingham manager, whose organisation stores provisions for people in need, at the church.
“You can boil them, mash them, or fry them — but we’d really rather people didn’t steal them.
“We weren’t aware of a national potato shortage or impending famine, but in the night a gentleman clearly in need of extra carbs (and possibly an extra day or two at the gym so he could carry them) decided to help himself to two sacks of potatoes and one of our metal cages, under cover of darkness.”
The potatoes had been destined for the Wokingham Share’s distribution network.
Instead the thief attempted to trundle them noisily down Norreys Avenue in the early hours.
But he seems not to have got very far.
Perhaps running out of steam, he gave up his spud heist and dumped the potatoes on the pavement where they were discovered the following day.
The cage and its contents were then recovered by the charity, but some of the vegetables were damaged, having been left uncovered in the rain.
“Share exists to support the local community,” continued Claire, “so it’s genuinely heartbreaking when stock is taken from us.
“Every item stolen is something we can’t pass on to households who need it.
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“If our late-night potato enthusiast is in need of a regular fix, we’d warmly suggest volunteering instead — we can absolutely keep him supplied with potatoes, honestly and legally, in return.”
For information, visit: sharewokingham.co.uk
