A DISABLED boy’s £3,000 wheelchair has been found just days after his distraught mother appealed for its return through The Bolton News.

We reported last Saturday how 12-year-old Archie Parmenter’s custom-built wheelchair was stolen from the garage of his mother Sarah’s home in Brynmoor, Smithills.

The youngster has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, can barely walk and relies heavily on the titanium wheelchair, made by Liverpool firm Da Vinci.

Friends set up Facebook fundraising campaigns and at least two voluntary groups, including the Bolton Bulls Wheelchair Basketball Club and Day Of Sunshine children’s charity in Lytham St Anne’s, offered money to help pay for a replacement.

However, the wheelchair has been found less than a mile away, dumped next to the shed of a property which was also targeted by thieves.

Mrs Parmenter, a public relations executive, said: “I am absolutely delighted for Archie that we have got the wheelchair back.

“The fact it was taken in the first place was pretty difficult for us to take. Having to replace the wheelchair would have left a big hole in our family budget.

“It’s something we really need in order to take Archie on days out and for his quality of life.”

Mrs Parmenter, who also has a six-year-old son, George, said she and other residents of Brynmoor, who had suffered break-ins, had begun talking about clubbing together to get CCTV cameras installed in the cul-de-sac.

“The response from The Bolton News readers following the article was absolutely amazing,” she said. “We had lots of supportive and kind messages as well as generous offers to help fund a new chair.

“We are also extremely grateful to the police for the way they handled the theft.”

Det Insp Charlotte Cadden, of Bolton North Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “We are delighted Archie has been reunited with his wheelchair.

“Targeting a disabled child is despicable and the person or people responsible must have been aware it belonged to a child due to its size.

“Archie was left unable to go about his usual daily activities.”

She urged anyone who saw people acting suspiciously in or around Brynmoor between August 21 and August 26 to contact police.

Anyone with information can call police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.