HAMPSHIRE Police have performed a U-turn and re-opened their investigation into the theft of a £30,000 touring caravan from a Tongham couple, after their decision not to retrieve it from a traveller family brought a flood of adverse publicity.

Kathleen McClelland and Michael Curry had been told that the caravan bought and fitted out with their retirement savings could not be retrieved from the travellers' site where it had been found, as to do so could breach the human rights of the family living in it.

Police said their "hands were tied" and that the couple would have to take a civil action against the occupants, who claimed to have bought the caravan for £300 in a pub.

But as the decision attracted widespread publicity and public comment, Hampshire Police announced that they had reviewed the circumstances surrounding the incident and had re-opened the investigation.

For full story, see this week's Farnham Herald.