A COUNTY Durham family have spoken of their heartbreak after their £25,000 caravan was reportedly stolen from a site near Teesside Airport.

Hollie Holmes, along with partner Steven, and two children April, six, and Jenson, three, had only owned their Hobby 645 VIP for 12 months before it disappeared last week.

It is understood that the caravan was taken at some point between 6pm and 10pm on April 12 from storage at DHDT Goosepoole House near the airport.

Mrs Holmes, who lives in Spennymoor, has described the incident as a "nightmare," as she criticised the owners of the storage site for a lack of CCTV.

Speaking to The Northern Echo, Mrs Holmes described the impact on her children and her cleaning business, which relied on the caravan for accommodation on long-term jobs.

The Northern Echo:

Steven Holmes, left, with Hollie and children April and Jenson Picture: CONTRIBUTOR

Mrs Holmes, originally from Newton Aycliffe, said: "We'd bought it as we do a lot of industrial cleaning and we work up and down the country – we also use it for the family.

“It’s quite a high-end, rare model, especially as just before we bought it the previous owners had put in bespoke carpets, custom upholstery and made it really nice.

"If you wanted one of those you’d be looking at around £25,000 for it."

Mrs Holmes, who runs Orca Cleaning Group along with her partner, said she was just days away from removing it from storage as lockdown had started to ease.

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The caravan is worth £25,000 and was purchased by the Holmes last year Picture: CONTRIBUTOR

She had already planned to use the caravan on a long-distance job, where it would serve as accommodation for her team members. 

She said: "It had been in storage since November for the lockdown and we were preparing to get it ready again.

"We've got a job next month in Goole for 30 days and we'd priced up that job thinking we'll provide the accommodation.

"We can't now go back to the client and say we can't do it at that price - we won't make a loss on that job, but we won't make any profit."

But more than just an asset to the business, the loss of their caravan now means the family will not be able to use it for any future trips.

It also contained a number of sentimental items.

Mrs Holmes said: "It's just awful – when we had to tell April we couldn't go to the caravan she burst into tears, there were her Frozen bed covers and her toys which mean a lot because she's always looking after her toys.

The Northern Echo:

An investigation is now underway by Durham Police after the theft on April 12 Picture: CONTRIBUTOR

“Me and Steven had been only married for a year, we had our bottle of anniversary wine and champagne in the caravan."

She claimed she had been told her caravan would be covered by CCTV only to discover that it "did not cover the compound" where it had been stored.

She said: "When I chose the site they told me they had 24-hour security and I said 'are you a proper caravan storage site,' and they said yes.

"They they tell me they don't have CCTV of the compound where the caravan was and they don't have insurance in place to cover it. It's an absolute disgrace."

Durham Police confirmed it had received a report of the theft and that an investigation is currently ongoing.

A spokesperson said: "Officers were called to reports of the theft of a caravan from a compound at Durham Tees Valley Airport shortly before 3.30pm on April 13.

"It is believed the suspect attended the secure storage unit sometime overnight (April 12) and removed the caravan which is described as a Hobby 645 VIP. 

"An investigation is currently ongoing. 

"Anyone with information in relation to the incident is asked to contact Darlington response on 101 quoting incident number 252 of April 13."

DHDT did not provide a comment when approached by The Northern Echo.