Antica Woodfired Pizza van was stolen from Victoria Retail Park in Netherfield and is believed to be in the Newark and Sherwood area

A business owner has been left devastated after his woodfired pizza van was stolen from a secure enclosure.

The van belonging to Antica Woodfired Pizza was stolen from the grounds of Deliconti Dough Company, on Unit 1, Pintail Close, Victoria Business Park, Netherfield, last Thursday (October 23).

The van was said to be kept behind locked gates alongside other vehicles and even had a van parked in front of the woodfired pizza van to make it more ‘difficult to steal’.

Antonio Vendone started the pizza business in 2003 and had owned the converted van for about five years, which he said to have invested a lot of money on.

Antonio said: “These situations numb you, it's heartbreaking because the thing is, it's not just a pizza van, it's not just a vehicle.

“The van itself is insured, but they don't insure you for the fit-out, for all the work that's gone in.

“We've spent all summer working really hard, setting foundations for next year.

“This has been our first summer; we've gone to festivals and things like that, and this year has been about investing, and then we're all set up, ready to do well next year.”

Antonio said the van was noticed missing, after his parents, who own the site where the van was parked, returned home and checked the security cameras.

CCTV footage from the site showed three men involved in the incident who parked a car outside the gates.

One man jumped over and broke into both the van blocking the pizza van, and the pizza van itself, and then the trio pushed one of the vans out of the way to get to the pizza van.

It was said that one of the men used an angle grinder to grind the security lock off the wheel and then used it again to break the lock on the gates.

The van, which has a pop-up pizza sign on top, is described as a distinctive model that has been converted for the wood-fired pizza business. It is a white Fiat with a FY20GLF number plate.

The business owner added: “We assume that it’s gone out to Newark, Lowdham or Southwell way, but the police told us last night that it was picked up by a camera in Mansfield on the same evening.

“It's affected everybody, we're all arguing between us, it drives you crazy that someone's done that and just taken it.

“The whole family's been driving around, my sister's got a one-year-old baby, she's going out with the baby and my dad's 70, he's going out, he's stressed.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Nottinghamshire Police or email Antonio Vendone at antonio@anticapizza.co.uk or through Antica Woodfired Pizza Facebook page.

The owner is offering a reward for information leading to the van’s recovery.

Nottinghamshire Police has been approached for a comment.