A cold-hearted thief stole a mum’s mobility scooter – a year after her disabled daughter’s adapted tricycle was taken from the same spot.

Barking and Dagenham Post: Claire suffers from spina biffida occulta and needs her scooter to get around - but can't afford to replace it now it has been stolen. Picture: Paul BennettClaire suffers from spina biffida occulta and needs her scooter to get around - but can't afford to replace it now it has been stolen. Picture: Paul Bennett (Image: Archant)

Now Claire Glover, 38, fears she is being “targeted”.

Both thefts happened outside Claire’s home in Holgate Road, Dagenham, while her daughter’s trike was also stolen on another occasion but was recovered after being dumped nearby.

“I’ve started to feel really insecure and vulnerable,” Claire, who suffers from a mild form of spinal condition spina bifida, said. “I am disgusted there’s somebody going around and doing this to disabled people.”

Without her scooter, the mum-of-two has limited independence as she is in constant pain and finds it difficult to walk.

“My condition is gradually getting worse as I get older and I can’t get out without it,” Claire said. “I’m relying on my mum to take me out everywhere.

“It would cost about £600 to replace second-hand, which is way out of my budget as a single mum on benefits.”

Her dark blue Kymco mobility scooter, which has black wire baskets at the front and rear, was stolen from outside her front door between 11pm on Wednesday, January 21, and 6am the following morning.

Its cover was taken a couple of days previously –which Claire now believes might be connected to the scooter’s disappearance.

She first realised it was gone after going outside to charge it up at about 6.30am.

“I felt sick because it was taken from next to my front door and they would have come right into my garden,” she said.

“It did the job for me but it wasn’t top of the range or a new model or anything. I feel like I’m being targeted – three times isn’t a coincidence.”

Police are investigating the theft. If you have any information, you can call 101, or phone Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.