A CHILDREN’S ride at a Colchester supermarket went missing after a man came to fix it, a court heard.

Philip Hughes told a security guard at Asda, in Turner Rise, he had been called to repair the musical bus and, if he could not fix it, he was to take it away.

But the next day a repair man from the owners of the ride arrived and asked where it was.

The bus, worth between £1,500 and £3,000, had not been seen since, Chelmford Crown Court was told.

Mr Hughes, 37, of Havering Close, Colchester, denied a charge of stealing the bus and was cleared after a short trial.

He told a jury he had been asked by a man he named as Mike Shepherd to repair the ride or take it away.

He could not fix it, so he delivered the bus to a car park in Thurrock a week later, where it was collected by Mr Shepherd.

He said he had been unable to contact Mr Shepherd since.

The prosecution had alleged Mr Hughes stole the bus, belonging to Photo-Me International, from the supermarket on February 9 this year.

He was formally discharged after an unanimous verdict.

Mr Hughes said he had worked for Mr Shepherd before and had no reason to believe this job was any different from others.