Christmas trees stolen from Birmingham garden charity

A garden centre run by a charity for people with disabilities has had 10 Christmas trees stolen by thieves who broke in to the premises.

The trees were stolen on Tuesday evening from Umberslade Nurseries in Stirchley, Birmingham, which is run by Queen Alexandra College.

The garden centre intended to sell the stolen trees, which have an estimated value of £350, to raise funds for the centre.

West Midlands Police is investigating.

Queen Alexandra College, external is a further education charity for 16-24 year olds with disabilities.

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Nicola Stitt, nursery manager, said this year is the first the garden centre has sold Christmas trees.

"It's sad that someone would do this to a charity. The trees stolen had an estimated value of £350 and to a charity like us that's quite a lot."

She said she noticed the premises had been broken in to after arriving to work on Wednesday morning.

"The fence panels had been kicked out at the side of the property. Inside tables had been thrown everywhere and there were plants all over the floor," she said.

Umberslade Nurseries hosts around 24 disabled students from Queen Alexandra College a week who take part in horticultural work at the garden centre.

"I'm so angry for our students," said Ms Stitt.

"We were planning to sell the stolen Christmas trees at a fayre, and the students had put a lot of effort in to delivering leaflets and helping out."