TWO thirds of theatre equipment stolen from outside a village hall has been returned to its owners.

BareBones Theatre Company was left devastated after £3k worth of its equipment was taken from their trailer during their tour of A Prisoner on Second Avenue.

The Hereford Times reported on the theft, which took place on November 15.

Since then about 70 per cent of the stolen goods were left in the driveway of a house in the Ross area.

Chairman Dave Baldwin said: "The police have not given much specific information because inquiries are apparently continuing but we are enormously relieved.

"An act of conscience? I doubt it. I think it more likely that, given the publicity our loss received, this specialist equipment became difficult to sell."

The company, which is in his tenth year, was inundated with offers from other theatre groups to use their equipment. They had not yet put in an insurance claim.

Mr Baldwin said: "One positive to come out of this sad tale is in the response and support from so many people.

"In our performances around the county, so many people have seen us but it's in the nature of theatre that we seldom see them.

"When it became known that we'd suffered such a loss, the response from those good people was quite quite overwhelming.

"For a couple of days my phone hardly stopped ringing with offers of help. Our heartfelt thanks go out to our loyal audience members and to other members of the Herefordshire theatre community."

The group finished their tour at the weekend.