Minibus taken from Islington School

Holloway School in Islington, London, was tricked into handing over the keys to its minibus to a thief, it has been reported.

Police are now investigating the circumstances in a bid to trace the robber. The minibus plays an important part in school life at Holloway as it is used regularly to transport pupils to and from various activities including sporting and extracurricular events.

Staff at the school explained how the theft came about. They described how a man entered the premises and asked for the keys to the minibus. The man claimed he had been sent by the garage to pick up the vehicle to take it away to be serviced.

It wasn’t until a staff member from the school called up the garage to ask when the minibus was likely to be returned that they realised that the vehicle had been stolen. They were told by the garage that no one from their company had collected their minibus up.

CCTV footage from a nearby service station forecourt showed a man filling up a vehicle with petrol, and then fleeing the station without paying for the fuel.

The minibus stolen from the school has since been recovered. It was found abandoned on the side of the road in Camden Town, London.