A COUPLE who rely on their allotment for food after being made redundant have had theirentire pumpkin crop stolen.

Jane and Tony Lawford, from Otter’s Reach, Kennington, began to spend more time on their two plots at Redbridge Hollow after both lost their jobs earlier this year.

The couple had been tending their crop of Italian pumpkins, which are a distinctive green and gold colour, at the allotments since March and were preparing to harvest them over the weekend.

Mrs Lawford, 51, said: “We went down to the allotments on Saturday and were getting ready to harvest them on the Sunday.

“But when we came back on Sunday afternoon they were all gone.

“There was about 10 or 11 in all.

“They are not the usual ones you find in the supermarkets.

“They are a quite unusual Italian variety and we were looking forward to eating them over the coming months.”

The couple said they had been using their allotments, which cover roughly one eighth of an acre, to grow seasonal vegetables to supplement their weekly food shopping bills since Mrs Lawford was made redundant from her post in publishing and Mr Lawford, 42, lost his job as a transport adviser.

Mrs Lawford said the thefts had left them disheartened, adding: “I’m just amazed that somebody would do that.

“We grow everything there. We don’t need to buy any fruit or vegetables for the biggest part of the year.

“But seeds aren’t cheap these days and it is disheartening when you spend so much time growing stuff.

“I would think twice about carrying on if this keeps happening.”

Thames Valley Police confirmed it had received reports of pumpkin theft at the allotment between 4pm on Saturday and 3pm on Sunday and appealed for witnesses.

A spokesman said: “If anyone is offered these pumpkins for sale we would urge them to contact us.”

Anyone with information, or who noticed anything suspicious at the time, should call police on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk