Thieves smashed through a Stotfold pub’s fence on Sunday night to steal its bouncy castle – disappointing families who gathered there for a wake the next day.

Gary Connolly, owner of the Fox and Duck in Arlesey Road, bought the Flintstones-themed inflatable just two months ago for £550.

He told the Comet: “The kids always loved the bouncy castle. It’s just disappointing – you’re in a nice area and you have something nice like this, and someone steals it.

“We had a wake the very next day, Monday, and they’d booked here so 20 children could play on the bouncy castle – but it wasn’t there, so they were all disappointed.”

Gary said the thieves had parked up in the road and dragged the uninflated bouncy castle out of the garden along the floor, then loaded it up and driven off.

But Gary believes that while stealing it, the thieves damaged it in such a way that it is no longer usable.

He said: “They’ve cut the ribbons, and that means you can’t attach it to the metal pins in the ground and hold it down.

“They should have taken the pins out and gone off with the whole thing – then they could have resold it.

“It’s no good to anyone now. You can’t really re-stitch the ribbons because it’s an inflatable thing.

“We’ll get another bouncy castle, but we want to look at our security again first.

“I hope the people who did this feel good about themselves.”

Police told the Comet that they were investigating following the theft, which a spokeswoman said happened at some point between 9.30pm on Sunday and 8am on Monday.

Anyone with information should call Beds police on 101, quoting crime reference JD/31439/2017, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or crimestoppers-uk.org.