A TERMINALLY-ILL youngster has been reunited with her wheelchair after it was stolen from outside her sister's house.

Julia Mangan, 11, was left devastated after her chair, which she relies on to get around, was taken in the early hours of Tuesday from Upleatham Street, Saltburn, east Cleveland.

Her mother, Angela Gibson, made a heartfelt plea to those responsible to hand the chair back as it was so important for Julia, who suffers from a muscle-wasting disease.

Now, following newspaper stories about the theft, a taxi-driver realised he was carrying Julia's chair. He had picked up two passengers from Saltburn, who put a wheelchair in the back of his cab, but when he dropped them off in Dormanstown, near Middlesbrough, they said they did not need the chair anymore.

The chair has been returned to Julia - but Cleveland Police are continuing to investigate the theft.

Mrs Gibson said: "We are over the moon because we didn't think we would get the chair back. Julia is really happy it turned out all right."