Plaque found by walkers (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Memorial to victims of fire is spotted near the original site

12:00pm Saturday 2nd June 2012 in News By James Rush, T&A Reporter

A memorial to the lives of two young brothers who died in the Bradford City fire, which was stolen from its spot twice, has been found not far from its site.

Retired policeman Stephen Palmer and his friend Alan Wilkinson came across the plaque discarded on the ground while walking by the site in Widdop, Calderdale, on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr Palmer, from Wilsden, said the pair had been speaking of the plaque just moments before spotting it.

The former policeman said he had read in the Telegraph & Argus last week how Hazel Greenwood, whose husband Peter, 46, and sons Felix, 13, and Rupert, 11, were among the 56 victims of the tragedy 27 years ago, found the plaque in memory of her sons at a beauty spot had been pulled off for the second time in two years.

He said: “As we were walking up I was saying to my friend ‘you can’t believe somebody would steal the plaque off there’.

“We were about ten yards past where the plaque had been and Alan said ‘what’s that on the floor?’. We looked down and picked it up and it was the plaque.

“The screws were still attached to it and you could see where the corners had been bent where they had prised it off the rock.”

Mr Palmer, who retired last year after 36 years with West Yorkshire Police, said the plaque could have been vandalised or stolen then returned after thieves saw the attention received in the media and on the internet.

Mrs Greenwood said she was pleased the plaque had turned up, but found it quite surprising as she had visited the site with the police on Tuesday.

She said: “It’s just unbelievable, I never expected it to turn up, but it makes you wonder if it might be vandalised again and how to prevent it. I would like to thank the people who found it very much.”

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “A plaque has been handed in to police and we are currently checking to see if it is the same one.”

Anyone with information about the theft has been asked to contact Sergeant Michael Bowden on the non-emergency number 101.