Bouncy castles stolen from Hucknall are found after three years

The 12 inflatables, worth in the region of £20,000, were taken in July 2017 from an industrial unit in Hucknall – and the owners had been checking selling sites on the hunt for them ever since.

The company targeted was Marshall Events and the firm is delighted to have finally got some of their stolen equipment back.

After spotting some of the kit for hire, the company tipped off police who then went to an address in Clifton.

During a search of the property, four of the stolen inflatables were found.

A fifth was later recovered from Latimer Close in Bulwell.

In total nine out of the 12 stolen bouncy castles have now been recovered.

As part of the investigation, officers have arrested two men, aged 33 and 34, They have since been released under investigation as enquiries continue.

Police Constable Jane Gibson, who led the investigation, said: "Since the burglary in 2017, the victims have periodically checked selling sites and Facebook to try and recover their stolen items, some of which were bespoke to them.

"They had made their own enquiries and discovered their castles being advertised for hire in the last few weeks after all this time.

"They had started to hire the castles and then build a picture of where their property was being stored.

"Officers attended a pub in Bramcote and waited for two men to return to dismantle two castles hired by the victims.

"On arrival, they were arrested and two castles were seized.

"They were also aware that another company had innocently purchased two further castles belonging to them which they had also booked for the pub at a slightly later time.

"The four castles were identified by the victims as stolen by their unique serial numbers and recovered.”

Officers are also appealing to the general public to help trace an outstanding bouncy castle called the Gladiator Joust.

Two others are believed to have been sold and may never be recovered.

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