A DISABLED woman has made an appeal for her mobility tricycle to be returned to her after it was stolen from outside her home in the time it took to boil a pot of pasta.

Ali Gibbs had the tricycle stolen from outside of her home yesterday afternoon having left it unattended for less than an hour.

She said that the thief had stolen her only means to get out and about independently.

It is the second time in a matter of months that thieves have stolen the tricycle.

Miss Gibbs said the tricycle was taken from outside her home in Hanover Crescent, Brighton, between 5 and 6pm on Thursday.

The 28-year-old said she had accidentally left the vehicle unlocked outside her home following a misunderstanding with her boyfriend Chris Norton.

Within the time that the couple had made a bowl of pasta and sat down ton eat it, the tricycle was gone.

Miss Gibbs, who has cerebral palsy, is hopeful that appeals through social media will again proof successful after an observant resident spotted the trike discarded in undergrowth a mile away by Brighton Racecourse just before Christmas.

She said: “The thing that I find most painful and hurtful is that the signs make it really clear it is for disabled person so its hard to understand why anybody would take it.

“We had taken the seat off it so it would have been difficult to ride.

“Anybody who steals a bike it’s obviously wrong but last time when I saw that the disabled stickers had been ripped off the bike, it felt like a hate crime.

“Without that bike I can’t go anywhere very far independently.”

Anyone with information should call Sussex Police on 101 quoting 47150100761.