LATEST NEWS: More families left 'disgusted' and 'violated' after spate of hot-tub thefts in community

A MOTHER has had her faith restored in humanity after a member of the community offered to replace her 10-year-old son's inflatable pool which was stolen.

Magdalena Dixit, who lives in Osterley Grove, Ravenscliffe, bought a paddling pool (above) around a month ago.

Her 10-year-old son, Kevin, had been taking advantage of the scorching weather in Bradford over the past few weeks.

But, the pool was taken from their garden in the early hours of Thursday, June 4.

Mrs Dixit said Kevin was devastated.

She added: “It made me feel upset when I had to tell my child what happened to his pool.

“It gave him loads of joy, but not enough, as it only lasted a month.

“I think he feels disappointed for being let down, and I’m afraid at the age of 10 he might be losing his beliefs in humanity.”

The mother was so infuriated she posted on a community page, on social media website Facebook, to try find the "scumbags" who had emptied, deflated and taken the pool.

She said: "If you cannot afford a £50 pool, how can you afford to pay your water bill to fill it with 3,500 litres of water."

Just a day later, someone commented on the post and offered to send a new inflatable pool to Mrs Dixit's house, free of charge.

The formalities of the arrangement have not been sorted yet, but the mother has had her faith restored in the community.

She said: "I really appreciate that there are still good people around who are willing to help and make my son happy."

The person, or people responsible, are yet to be found but a member of the public shared CCTV footage with Mrs Dixit.

It shows a single person wandering down Osterley Grove, just before 5am on Thursday, June 4.

They can be seen carrying a large object above them, which looks to be a deflated paddling pool (inset picture).

The individual then dumps the object on a patch of grass at the side of the road, moves off camera, before returning with a wheelie bin.

The final act of the CCTV footage shows the person stuff the object into the wheelie bin and then drag it along a path leading away from Osterley Grove.

Mrs Dixit said: “The fact that someone has invaded my privacy, it made my feel endangered.

“Me and my family cannot feel safe at home, especially given that I just missed him, because I woke up at 5am and the first thing I do is I let my dogs out into the garden.

“If I had woke up 10 minutes earlier I would have caught him at the scene and would have had to challenge him.

“It’s frightening and upsetting that people can steal anything and nothing is safe behind the fences.”

The T&A contacted West Yorkshire Police but they did not provide a comment.