A COUPLE’S dreams of adventures on the continent with their newborn daughter have been dashed after their camper van was stolen.

Sarah Muckett and partner Mathis Bock hoped to show eight-week-old Inola the world from their 1980s’ Volkswagen before re-starting work. But the trio is stuck in Hove after the van was stolen from Saxon Road near their home, after Mr Bock had driven it to the UK from his native Germany.

The couple are trying to track down the van and fear for the safety of the thief because the vacuum pump for the brakes needed replacing.

Miss Muckett, 33, said: “We are gutted. We have got a new family and it was all set for us to have adventures in.

“We have talked about taking the van around Europe while I have got some time for maternity leave and while the baby is small.

“It was our ticket to freedom as when you are on maternity leave you don’t have much money.

“The people who had it before us had it since new and their family had grown up in it. They handed it over to us with pictures their children had drawn of us having adventures in it.”

The contents included CDs, two Llama hair blankets belonging to Mr Bock’s late grandparents, the family’s tent, sleeping bags and a mock-up of an Argus headline ‘the end is nigh’.

The van has seats clad in the original Van Dyck fabric, plain brown curtains, a Westfalia kitchen unit and seats that convert into a double bed.

Last seen with German number plate B-YJ 790, its distinguishing features include a black rectangular panel on its middle left, a vent custom-made by its previous owners.

Miss Muckett and Mr Bock, 40, had been away for ten days and found the van had gone on Saturday morning.

The theft has been reported to police and the couple have been sharing details of the van on social media in a bid to find it.