A RARE postal van which was badly damaged after being used as a getaway car by ram-raiders is set to be restored.

The vehicle – known as Red Robbo – is the final survivor of a batch of 70 built-to-order Austin Maestro vans made for the Royal Mail in 1987.

The vehicle was stolen from a garage in Sudbury Road, Halstead, and used as the getaway vehicle in a ram raid at the Co-op in nearby Colchester Road.

The van, which is owned by the Colne Valley Postal Museum, in Head Street, had previously been restored.

It is now in the process of its second restoration after being damaged in the raid.

Museum curator Steve Knight, 57, set up a fundraising page to raise £4,000 towards the costs of getting the van back on the road.

Red Robbo suffered substantial damage when the gang of crooks loaded a one-tonne cash machine into the back and later drove into the middle of a field, demolishing a fence post under the front bumper in August 2018.

The repairs will cost nearly £5,000 and the van will need a full respray and all new decals after sustaining damage to almost every panel.

The campaign has been running for four months and has raised £3,600 – enough to get repairs under way.

Work on Red Robbo began on Friday, when another vehicle which will be used for replacement parts arrived.

Mr Knight said: “We don’t know how complex it is going to be to restore him to how he was and we are still missing some of the parts we need.

“We are still missing the front grille and we are always looking for suppliers for van parts.”

Fundraising to restore the van has come a long way, and Mr Knight hopes a final appeal will help hit the target.

He said: “We still need one last push. I am going to be making the new graphics and you always find unexpected things when you are taking things apart.

“When we started fundraising four months ago we weren’t sure what was going to happen, but we have a wide variety of people across the country who want this little mail van back on the road.”

Donations have come from as far away as France.

“We’ve had tremendous support,” said Mr Knight.

“Our target is to have it ready for the Colne Valley Postal Museum’s open day on May 18 so it can be on display along with the other vintage vehicles.”

To support the appeal, visit gofundme.com/get-red- robbo-back-on-the-road.

n An article in last week’s Gazette should have said Mr Knight is standing for Labour in the district council elections on May 2, not the Conservatives as stated.

Pauline Amos (Lab), David Hume (HRA), Stephen Kirby (Con), Rob Pye (Con), Mick Radley (HRA) and Daniel Shadbolt (Green) are also standing in the Halstead St Andrew’s ward.