“HEARTLESS and cruel” thieves have broken a charity bus used to take York cancer patients to hospital for life-saving treatment.

The entire exhaust system was stolen from the York Against Cancer bus while it was parked in a residential area of Huntington. It will cost £3,000 to repair.

Despite the extensive work needed to get the bus back on the road, it is thought thieves will be able to make only a couple of hundred pounds by selling its catalytic converter.

The theft has especially shocked charity staff as the bus – which has transported thousands of cancer patients to hospital in Leeds for vital treatment – is clearly marked as being from York Against Cancer.

Julie Russell, the charity’s general manager, said: “We were absolutely disgusted people could do this. The fact is they will get a couple of hundred pounds for the metal.

“This will not hold us back. We won’t let criminals stop us helping people. We are determined the service will be unaffected.

“I think whoever did this should be ashamed of themselves for doing this to a charity.

“All of the money has been donated by the people of York and it’s a shame they would do this anyway, but to do it to a charity is disgusting.”

The charity has hired a minibus to carry on an undisrupted service for patients.

PC Jo Brooke, of York Police, said: “This was a heartless and cruel theft which will earn the offenders only a small amount of cash but has cost a charity which does a great deal of work in the community thousands of pounds.

“It has also deprived vulnerable members of the community who use the minibus to get them to hospital of a valuable and essential service which they have come to rely on.”

She said such thefts had increased recently and urged vehicle owners to take precautions to park in well-lit areas, use a drive or garage if possible and report suspicious behaviour to police.

Yesterday, The Press reported that wheelchair user Kathryn Wynne-Thomas, 42, said she had lost her “lifeline” after thieves stripped the exhaust system from her specially adapted van while it was parked in North Moor Gardens, Huntington.

A crackdown on catalytic converter theft has also started in Selby.

Anyone who saw suspicious behaviour in the Saddler’s Close area on or before Saturday is urged to phone PC Brooke on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting reference 12120092722.