THE family of a terminally ill child have hit out at the heartless thieves who stole a Christmas tree put up for an event to raise money for their daughter’s care.

Caroline Jutla said she was “shocked and disgusted” after learning the tree outside The Masters pub had been swiped within hours of being planted.

The tree was paid for by Tara News ahead of a fundraiser on December 10 in aid of Amber’s Wish – a charity set up by the Downley family to provide care and create memorable experiences for their two-year-old daughter Amber, who suffers from Infantile Batten Disease.

Mrs Jutla said: “I am disgusted that someone could do such a thing and it’s so sad because Tara News and others are being really nice by doing something for the community and for Amber.

“It might only be a Christmas tree to someone but it means an awful lot more to me – I want to make this Christmas really special for Amber as we don’t know how much time we have left with her.

“We were really looking forward to see the community come together and to see school children singing carols around the tree – it’s shocking someone would it take less than 24 hours of it being up, it’s disgusting.”

The callous theft of the 16 foot tree has shocked the community but Raj Chandarana, who runs Tara News, said the #LetsMakeDisraeliChristmassy event will still go ahead as planned.

He said: “We’re obviously not happy about it as it cost £350 and has obviously left a gap.

"We are very trusting people so it’s disappointing, not just because it has been stolen but the fact people didn’t get to see it.

“But we’ll just have to get hold of another tree, the event will still go on – we have a host of stalls, a Santa’s Grotto, a raffle and children from The Disraeli School will be singing carols for the community.

“We recently finished first out of 84,000 stores in the Independent Achievers Academy Awards for our community service – we’re the pillar of this community and we wanted to show everyone why we won that by putting on a great event for the community.”

The event gets under way at 2.30pm on December 10 at the Masters pub in Brindley Avenue.

Anyone interested in running a stall, donating prizes to the raffle or replacing the Christmas tree are urged to call Raj on 07801539634.

To find out more information about Infantile Batten Disease click here.