Mark Huggins, 13, had his wheelchair stolen from outside his home on Thresher Drive on Tuesday morning.

It was returned two days later "extensively vandalised" and will have to be replaced - at a cost of �500 - as it is beyond repair.

Sally Huggins, Mark's mother, told BBC News Online: "When it first went missing, Mark hoped that whoever had taken it needed it more than him.

"Now he is very upset and angry - which is not like him."

A police spokesperson appealed for witnesses and said: "This was an act by cruel and mindless vandals."