A £12,000 demountable mock village used by police to teach thousands of schoolchildren potentially life-saving messages about safety was found today, weeks after it was stolen.

Officers found the “village” used for the North Shropshire Safety Scene at a former pumping station near Market Drayton after it was spotted by a member of the public.

The scenery, which has been created over several years and is used annually at the event, was found at the station near Calverhall.

It was stolen in a trailer parked at Excel Metal Forms Techniques Ltd at the Wem Engineering Centre in Church Lane, Wem, last month. The trailer is still missing.

The Safety Scene event was the brainchild of Market Drayton Detective Constable Glyn Teggin and has benefited more than 10,000 pupils from primary schools in north Shropshire and Oswestry since it was launched in 1998.

After the village was stolen, police embarked on a drive to raise the money needed to rebuild the scene in time for this year’s event in October.

Mr Teggin said today: “I am really, really pleased to have found it. Some of the pieces have been cut through, probably so it would fit in whatever vehicle used to transport it, but in the main it is not in bad condition.

“We don’t think it has been here very long, probably not the entire time since it was stolen, as it is not that wet and we have had a lot of rain recently.

“We are now working to get it recovered as quickly as possible before it can come to any further damage from the elements.”