A rare mail van which belongs to a museum was stolen and used as the getaway vehicle by a gang of ram raiders.

The vehicle, the final surviving machine of a batch of 70 built to order Austin Maestro vans made for Royal Mail in 1987, was stolen from a garage in Sudbury Road, Halstead, on Tuesday.

Belonging to the Colne Valley Postal Museum, in Head Street, Halstead, the vehicle was found by Essex Police abandoned in a field in Ridgewell after the raid, along with a stolen Audi.

After spending nearly 20 years in storage, the iconic red van had just been fully restored to working order by the museum.

The restoration included adding full original Royal Mail livery of the period, and cost approximately £5,000.

It had been displayed just two days before the raid at a vehicle rally at Warwickshire’s British Motor Museum along with other Post Office, BT and GPO vehicles.

The vehicle was also set to be one of the top attractions at the museum’s open day on Saturday, September 8.

Museum curator Steve Knight, who was in holiday in Devon at the time of the theft, is unsure of how much damage has been done to the classic van.

He said he had taken it to the service garage after the rally as he noticed its fuel pump gasket was leaking diesel and letting air in.

“The open day will go ahead with or without our precious van, although obviously we are extremely angry and disappointed that it has been used in a dangerous criminal act that may have resulted in irreparable damage to this historic vehicle,” Mr Knight said.

“Ironically, it was on the forecourt because it would not start properly - a problem the thieves appear to have overcome.”

Mr Knight believes the vehicle may have been used to load the ATM after the gang had smashed it out of the wall of the Co-op store in Colchester Road, Halstead, in the early hours of Tuesday.