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Owner liberates stolen Cornish Pasty van after social media follower spots it at Tipton car park

The owner of a stolen Cornish Pasty van is celebrating after customers on social media tracked down the missing vehicle to Tipton.

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Back where it belongs - Darren's pasty van

Darren Bassett, from Stourbridge, was distraught when his distinctive branded truck was stolen as he relies on it to sell his award winning Cornish pasties across the Midlands.

Darren, who has thousands of followers on his Cornish Pasty Box social media accounts, posted a plea for people to keep an eye out for his truck.

He said: "I got a phone call from someone who saw my post on social media who was working in Tipton. He said he could see my van outside some flats, and it still had my Cornish pasty on the back of it.

"They had taken down the Cornish flag and it had the same number plate."

He added: "I jumped in a car I have borrowed for a few days and drove to Tipton to liberate it. I'm in the van now, they have stolen Satnavs, computers and cameras.

"However, what was still there was a key ring from Cornwall, which my daughter found on a beach in Cornwall decades ago which means the world to me. They left my Stourbridge bobble hat which you cannot buy anymore.

"They are so stupid they have stolen my prescription Ray Bans which no-one can wear but left a pair of normal Ray Bans which anyone could wear."

Darren praised the person who alerted him about the vans whereabouts, Church Hill Road, Tipton.

He said: "I don't want to name him but he was absolutely golden, he checked the number plate, gave me a pin to find it, but I don't know if the thieves live in the flats but police will be checking the CCTV."

The police asked Darren if they could take the van away to fingerprint the van, but they could have taken weeks."

Darren said: "Thanks to Facebook, thanks everyone who shared and cared to help me find my van. I had to go over and get it, the police could have took a day."