Wood offered to Bideford theft victims

Deborah, left, with husband Gary Osborne, standing on their driveway where a wood splitter they were borrowing from a friend was stolen along with all of their winter wood.

Dry wood has been offered to the couple whose borrowed wood splitter worth thousands of dollars was stolen from their remote Bideford property this month.

Lake Ferry Hotel owner Maurice Tipoki has invited Deborah and Gary Osborne to stack a trailer full of pine, from trees felled on his farm.

"I thought it was a bit sad of the thief to take the wood splitter and the wood - you don't take both.

"I felt sorry for them because I'm a farmer too. Those country people have to stick together."

The couple had borrowed the small jade green wood splitter, worth about $3000-$4000 and in good condition, from a friend who had owned it for just over a year.

It had been "well out of sight", parked about half a kilometre up their driveway, with the thieves having to open and go well beyond the property's boundary gate to obtain it.

Mr and Mrs Osborne had been working hard stockpiling macrocarpa wood for the cold winter months.

They said they relied on fire for heating and having a good stock of wood was important as snow at 300 metres fell on their front door step, meaning at times they could be cut off and isolated.

Deborah Osborne said she was grateful for Mr Tipoki's offer. "That's really, really kind of him."

Mrs Osborne said she and her husband were trying to keep positive and still hoped someone would come forward to them or the police with information of the wood splitter's whereabouts.

"We have to believe that we will get it back."