News and Star

A NINE-YEAR-OLD Whitehaven girl is overjoyed at being reunited with her pet ferrets which were stolen from the garden of her Parton home.

Sarah Reid-Thompson is now keeping tight hold of Freida the parse ferret and Flora the pole-cat ferret, which were returned to her by Whitehaven policeman Keith Hunton on Monday evening.

They were handed into the police station after being stolen on Sunday night.

“It’s excellent to have them back,” said Sarah, who is a pupil at St Bridget’s School in Parton.

Her mum Pam Reid-Martin added: “She was absolutely distraught when we discovered they had been taken. I don’t know what we would have done if we hadn’t got them back. You should have seen her face when the policeman brought them back.”

The 12-month-old ferrets were stolen from the cage in the family’s back garden on Sunday night – just hours after two young boys called at the house to ask if they were for sale. A carry case used to transport the pets was also taken.

Sarah had only got the pets this month as a present. She also has a dog, a rabbit, and a hamster.

Mrs Reid-Martin said the young boys knocked on the door when she was making Sunday lunch, saying they had heard the ferrets were for sale. She said they weren’t but was friendly to them and showed them the animals.

When her husband Peter looked out at about 8pm he saw the garden gate was open and the locks on the cage were broken – and the ferrets had gone.

It is believed the pets were handed into Whitehaven police station after officers spoke to some youngsters in the area.