Mystery as stolen bench hand-made by Peterborough pensioner returned

The hand-made bench that was stolen from The Wykes in Yaxley

The bench was one of five created by resident Peter Dunnell (84), known locally as Knocker. They were all hand-made from recycled materials and were placed along the popular walking route, The Wykes, to give everyone, even those who struggle to walk long distances at a time, the chance to enjoy the route.

Peter began creating the benches in July as a way to keep busy and to give back to the community after losing his partner Diane last year to cancer and receiving his own diagnosis this year.

He was left ‘flabbergasted’ in August when he noticed that one of the benches, which read ‘have a rest’ had been stolen.

Peter Dunnell (Knocker) on the memorial bench he created for his partner Diane

Bench crafted by pensioner stolen from popular Peterborough walking route

There was also much anger at the time from residents online who were very grateful for the seats and to Peter for providing them.

Yesterday (October 11), however, Peter’s daughter Linda was out for a walk on the public bridleway, and to her disbelief, found that the bench had been returned.

She said: “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I went out for a walk in the morning and saw it was back in place. I was really surprised to see it, perhaps word got around and the culprit’s conscience got the better of them.

“Anyone that needs to take a rest can now do so again, dad is delighted.”