A DISABLED woman was left distraught after her mobility scooter was stolen from outside her house.

Charity volunteer Debbie Jackson, 51, who struggles to walk, said she was devastated when she realised the scooter, her only means of transport, had been taken from the garden of her home in Wellington Court, Accrington.

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The theft has been branded an ‘absolute disgrace’ by a disability campaigner while community leaders said it was ‘disgusting’.

She said: “I got up and it had gone from right outside my front door.

“It was in my garden, which is fenced with a gate. It was chained up but they must have cut the chain and then wheeled it off. I’ve still got the key.

“That’s where I’ve kept it for the last 14 months and I thought it was safe. I just don’t believe it. I feel like I’ve been violated.

“My garden is my pride and joy in summer and they’d been in there. I was just devastated.”

Ms Jackson, who suffers from chronic pain condition fibromyalgia, lung disease chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pain in her legs, back, and hips, said she cannot walk even short distances without being in pain and losing her breath.

She will now have to rely on others or take taxis to get out-and-about in the run-up to Christmas.

Ms Jackson has been told she will have to wait 28 days before she can make an insurance claim for a new scooter, which retail at £2,675.

She said: “Everybody has been wonderful, I’ve got some wonderful friends, “People have been so supportive, it’s been unreal.

“But that scooter is all I’ve got to get around, it’s my freedom. Everything has to be planned now.

“I didn’t go anywhere at all yesterday. It’s losing your independence, my independence has gone.

“I was planning to help out at the homeless soup kitchen in Blackburn, and then some horrible person goes and does that to me.

“I was gobsmacked, why would they take a scooter? It’s just horrendous.”

Ms Jackson hopes to have the mobility scooter returned to her, and has asked the public to be on the lookout for the red Rascal 388 Deluxe scooter, which has a distinctive dint in the front where the bumper meets the frame.

A police spokeswoman said the theft was under investigation, and anyone with information should contact police on 101.

Barnfield Councillor June Harrison said: “I think it’s disgusting, disgraceful.

“To pinch something like that, that’s only for her, from outside somebody’s home when they need it to get around, and especially in this weather, it’s not nice.

“I don’t know where people come from to do things like that.

“I’m not happy about it happening in my ward, but I don’t think anybody wants it in any area.

Eddie Duxbury, chair of the Blackburn-based National Disabled Action Group, said: “I think it’s an absolute disgrace.

“The disabled people are suffering enough under this government without things like that happening.”

A police spokeswoman said the theft was under investigation, and anyone with information should contact police on 101.