Mum has buggy nicked from Islington’s South Library while reading to daughter

A heartless thief stole a £450 buggy from South Library last week while the owner read to her daughter inside.

Imogen Erskine thought it was strange when a member of staff came over to tell her about reports of suspicious behaviour and suggested she check on her buggy, which was in the lobby area.

So the 38-year-old mum of two wandered over to check and was in disbelief to see it was gone.

“We were reading books with my little girl and a friend, when one guy who was working there came over.

“So I went to check and it was gone. A £450 buggy, which wasn’t insured – because who insures a buggy?

“The member of staff said there had been some suspicious behaviour and he ran off to try and find someone. I think they knew who it was.”

The town hall has now launched a review into storage space for the buggies in its library. And Imogen is relying on CCTV footage to get it back, but knows it’s a long shot.

“I’ve been watching like a hawk all the local selling sites,” she continued. “It’s a Bugaboo Bee Buggy.

“Who steals a buggy?”

Police are investigating the theft, which took place on Wednesday last week.

Islington Council’s safety chief Cllr Andy Hull, said: “We were concerned to hear about this and would urge anyone with potentially useful information to get in touch.

“The incident has been reported to the police and they are investigating.

“Thefts at our libraries are, thankfully, relatively rare, but we’d always urge library users to report anything suspicious to a member of staff.

“We’re also reviewing the space for storing buggies.”