A GRATEFUL family has thanked police for re-uniting a six-year-old girl with her stolen quad bike.

The distinctive pink quad was among several items stolen in a spate of burglaries in the Smeaton area, near Darlington.

Four burglaries took place sometime between 1am and 3.30am on Saturday June13 and a hot tub and two drills were also stolen.

Following enquiries, officers located the quad in Ossett, West Yorkshire and returned it to its owner.

The little girl’s family, who hadn’t yet worked out how they were going to break the news to her that it had gone missing, said: “Once again many thanks for you and your team’s effort and determination to recover the quad bike, we are very grateful and you have made our granddaughter a very happy little girl.”

Police Investigator David Pegg, said: “I’m absolutely chuffed that we were able to locate and return the quad bike to the little girl so quickly.

“Her family never thought she would see it again and so they were delighted when we let them know we had located it.”