A British hospital says it has had to start chaining toys to the beds of sick children after a spate of thefts.
A parent has branded the thieves "disgusting" and said he was shocked to discover that toys for seriously ill children had to be securely attached to stop them from being swiped.
Dean Beddis, 49, took a photograph of his two-year-old son Soren trying to play with a toy locked to his cot at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, Wales.
"I was shocked to see a toy had a bike lock on it attaching it to the cot. I was talking to the nurses about how disgusting it was they had to do that," Beddis, a businessman whose son has bronchitis, told the Daily Mirror newspaper.
A source at the hospital confirmed the report.
"I wish this was a joke but it is actually true," the source said.
"It has been going on for at least four months. As far as I know quite a few toys have been stolen."
It is understood that staff have been told to lock all doors after leaving a room as an extra precaution against thieves.
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