Sad Toni's pining for her trampoline

Toni was devastated after the 10-foot wide trampoline was lifted from the back garden of her home.

The criminals would have had to battle against shrubs and weeds as they carried the round frame more than 50 yards along an overgrown alleyway to the road.

Vicky Meigh, 31, had made sure the £100 trampoline - her daughter's favourite piece of kit - was the first thing she put in place for the summer, following a move to the house last September.

The single mum moved to Chapel Crescent, in Sholing, to make a fresh start following a family bereavement. She put the trampoline outside four weeks ago.

"My first priority was to provide a play area for Toni in the garden because we've moved from Bitterne she's away from all her friends, and I haven't even finished doing it because I ran out of money," she told the Daily Echo.

"She is devastated. It is her one main toy for the back garden.

"She came in with her arms folded and said what am I going to bounce on now?'.

"I told her straight away that I'd get her a new one, although I can't really afford it."

Vicky, a sales co-ordinator for a Woolston-based aggregates company, said she could not believe someone had actually stolen the trampoline, which is black in the middle and blue on the outside.

She said the thieves had broken the lock to her back gate to get into the garden, but police were unable to gather useful evidence because of heavy rain.

"There must have been two adult men, because my friend and I can't lift it," she said.

"They haven't dismantled it because you can't undo the springs manually because of the pressure. They've just picked it up.

"It's like a cross country course to get the thing out. Someone must have seen them walking down the road with it. They must have looked into the gardens for it. Who could do that to a five-year-old?

"We moved here because it's a family-orientated area, but people should be aware that someone will steal anything. What's next, a set of swings?"