Missing bus stop: ' We wondered where it went'

Thieves have nicked an aluminium and glass bus shelter from a Granity street, but no one saw it go or missed it for over two months.

Solid Energy's Stockton Mine owned the shelter which was built for its workers. It was adjacent to a carpark on private land in Torea Street where Solid Energy vehicles parked, near Granity's Lyric Theatre.

Stockton Mine manager Michael Harrison said Solid Energy noticed the shelter missing when it handed the carpark back to the owner.

"During that process we've wondered where it went to so we've asked around, and we've left it [the case] with the police."

Although the shelter was not being used, Mr Harrison said it still had value and he would love it back. However, he wouldn't say how much it was worth and didn't know how much it might weigh.

Solid Energy is currently for sale. It's not known if the bus shelter was included on its list of assets.

No clue

A police spokesman said whoever took the bus shelter left the concrete slab it was on.

He agreed moving the shelter would have been a logistical challenge but said police had no idea how it was taken, when it was taken, where it was taken to or who took it.

He didn't know how many bus shelters Granity had, but said only the one had gone AWOL.

The shelter was there when the owner of the nearby carpark began work on his property in June, the spokesman said. Someone noticed the shelter had gone when the work finished at the end of August.

A staff member at the Northern Buller Resource Centre in Granity said they'd heard of a few recycling bins going missing but no one had mentioned a bus shelter.

Police are asking for anyone with any information to contact them or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

- Westport News