A Scout group’s van has been stolen from the driveway of one of its leaders in the early hours – throwing its plans into doubt.

Milton 4th’s Ford Transit, which was covered in Scout branding, disappeared from Chaucer Road, Sittingbourne, on Monday, July 10.

The group is now without its primary source of fundraising which comes from collecting recycling from residents and selling it to Kent County Council.

The £12,000 van was bought in 2021 after the scouts fundraised to replace their old one.

Money raised by the recycling collections goes towards subsidising Scouts from deprived backgrounds.

Sittingbourne, Milton and District leader, Angela Palmer, 43, has called the situation an “absolute nightmare”.

She said: “The group relies on the fundraising that the van helps us do.

“We are going to see a knock-on effect from not collecting on Friday as people will stop giving us their recycling.

“It has brought the morale of the group down as the leaders of the groups. People think we get paid but we are all volunteers.

“Without the van it throws our plans for the next nine months up in the air.

“The group are planning to go to the New Forest for a week summer camp and are now looking at options on how to get the equipment to the site as the van would be used to transport camping equipment.

“I get vehicles get stolen but to steal a scout van with lots of branding stuck to, it is just strange.”

The group is based at Meadowfield School and has 70 members including Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts aged from four to 14.

Scout leader, Helen Harlow, 60, says while the van is insured it will still cost the group money to hire a van in the meantime.

She said: “We have our summer camp at the New Forest at the end of August and we do not have one of our vans to take equipment there.

“It just causes stress that we do not need. We have not even told the kids yet but the parents are really angry that someone could do this.

“People do not have a lot of money at the moment so it’s hard enough without the loss of our main source of income.

“We will also need to replace the five bulk bins in the van which cost us £600.”

The group has appealed to people to contact police if they have any information about the van’s whereabouts.