Pensioner 'ram-raids' charity shop - on his mobility scooter

AN ELDERLY man stunned shoppers and staff when he rammed his mobility scooter into a charity shop doorway and ripped out the frame before making off up the street.

The mystery pensioner caused an estimated 2,000 of damage when he smashed through the glass front door of the shop before bolting.

As shop managers tried to get to the bottom of the bizarre incident yesterday, comparisons were being drawn with an Irn Bru TV advert in which a pensioner wearing a balaclava barges into a shop in her mobility scooter and grabs a load of the fizzy drink before attempting to escape.

The real-life attack happened when the Cobweb Foundation shop in Dunfermline, Fife, was closed for business.

Staff, preparing to open the shop, looked on in disbelief when the scooter suddenly came crashing through the front door.

The man at the controls drove headfirst into the door then, on finding himself stuck, put his bulky scooter into reverse taking the door frame with him.

As Christmas shoppers looked on, the pensioner then made his getaway up the High Street.

Alastair Mowbray, 28, the shop manager, said he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when the OAP crashed through his front door. He said: "He must have just hit the accelerator and came crashing through the door. Then he reversed back out really fast and took the door-frame with him. He buckled the frame and made a 2ft gap between the frame and the actual door.

"The next thing, he was tearing up the High Street on his scooter and I was too busy laughing to bother chasing him."

Cobweb, a Scottish disability charity, is distributing toys and other household items to needy families throughout Fife at Christmas.

Mr Mowbray added: "The door will cost 2,000 to fix - money we could have otherwise spent on the local people we’ll be helping this Christmas.

"But I think it was a genuine accident. He must have thought it was an automatic door and if he pushed against it, it would just swing open."

Mr Mowbray said when the pensioner smashed into the door he immediately thought of the popular Irn Bru advert.

The incident was being treated as an accident by the shop, which had alerted police, but had decided to take no further action.

Fife Police confirmed they were aware of the incident. A spokesman said it continues to "monitor any dangerous activity of motorised scooters and ‘mini-motos’".