Cars targeted outside hospital

A cancer centre is based in the hospital

Parents of children with cancer have had their cars broken into while visiting them at a hospital on Tyneside.

Some of the parents travel from as far away as Leeds and Edinburgh to get to Newcastle General Hospital, which houses the Northern Centre for Cancer Treatment.

Police have condemned the teenage thieves who they believe are responsible.

Three youths were seen near the doctors' residence of the hospital on Tuesday night, where three cars were later found to have been broken into.

'Callous'

Northumbria Police said: "The parents of these seriously ill children have enough to worry about without callous thieves breaking into their cars.

"Some of them obviously rely on their cars to be able to visit their children."

Hospital manager John Bowskill told BBC News Online: "The cars were in the grounds of flats that we have to accomodate parents of children in the bone marrow transplant unit.

"The people that use the unit are from all over the country, including Northern Ireland.

"I am seeking advice from the police.

"We do have security patrols but they cannot be everywhere at once," he added.