Thieves have stolen a disabled woman’s stairlift in a private car park just yards away from her home and in broad daylight.

Fiona Taylor, who suffers from polio and has mobility problems, needs the appliance to get up and down stairs unaided from her first floor flat in Rochester.

Mrs Taylor, 60, currently relies on husband Tony to get her around and was waiting for an engineer to install it at her purpose-built apartment.

Her son Andrew had bought it for his mother, who was diagnosed with the debilitating muscle disease when she was one year old and is gradually getting worse.

The mother of three was at home in Secretan Road just after 11am when she heard a noise.

She looked outside and saw two men acting suspiciously.

Unable to open the window, she banged on the pane and shouted: “What are you doing?”

They then put the stairlift on to the back of a white van and then made off at speed, laughing as they fled.

Andrew, 28, an executive assistant, said insurance did not cover the theft and the family were considering setting up a JustGiving page to get a replacement.

Andrew, who works in London, said: “This has left my mother extremely distraught and nervous.”

Mr and Mrs Taylor came over to England two years ago from South Africa where their two daughters still live.

Mrs Taylor, a former HR employee, said her 59-year-old husband, a warehouse worker, now has “to do everything for her”.

She has been upset by the theft and the pair’s actions.

She said: “Those men saw me at the window, but just didn’t care.”

Police spokesman James Walker said: “We received a report stating a chair lift was stolen from outside a flat in Secretan Road, Rochester, at around 11.15am on Thursday June 14.

“The lift is reported to have been loaded onto a white van which was then driven away from the area.

“At present, no suspects have been identified.”

Anyone with information should call police on 01634 792209 quoting XY/36582/18.

Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.