Suffolk Police baffled after “a very large and hard-to-hide object.” Goes missing.
By Our Crime Editor: Rob Banks
Suffolk Constabulary has launched an urgent appeal after an entire bus. Registration WZ56 LFT, vanished without a trace from a depot in Stowmarket late Thursday night. The missing vehicle, a number 76 route bus normally seen trundling between Stowmarket and Bury St Edmunds. It just disappeared sometime between midnight and 3 a.m. after intruders broke through the depot gates using what police believe was a circular saw.
Officers and transport staff have spent the weekend combing roads, fields, and even the occasional bus enthusiast’s driveway. So far the £250,000 vehicle remains firmly off the radar. “It’s not like stealing a bike,” admitted Detective Inspector Paul Trolley of Suffolk Police. “We’re fairly confident the bus didn’t just roll away on its own.”
Its behind you
Locals have taken to social media with wild theories, ranging from pranksters joyriding to rumors of a secret underground bus racing circuit operating somewhere near Thetford Forest. Others claim to have seen a “double-decker shaped shadow” near a Tesco car park, though police have yet to confirm these reports.
First Eastern Buses, who operate the route, said they were “shocked and disappointed,” adding that services on the 76 line will now be replaced by “a shorter, less convenient route operated by someone’s cousin in a Ford Transit.”
Police are urging anyone who may have seen the distinctive blue and white single-decker. Or who notices a suspiciously large new garden ornament — to get in touch immediately.
Information can be sent via email to itsbehindyou@suffolkgazette.co.suffolk, or reported anonymously to Crimestoppers.
