�A charity which helps deaf and hard of hearing children has been hit by cold-hearted thieves after a test box was stolen from a car.

Abul Hussain of Wellesley Road, Ilford, discovered his car had been opened without force, after he returned from a wedding on Monday night.

The thieves took a satellite navigation system as well as a large trolley on wheels, which contained a �5,000 test box to determine the hearing levels of children. “It made me feel sick, I felt sick for the rest of the week,” said Mr Hussain.

“This is of no value to anyone, I’m keeping my fingers crossed it’s been dumped and I find it. “I’ve been searching back streets and alleys where rubbish is dumped in the hope of finding it,” he added.

The Ewing Foundation, which provides tests and help for children with hearing problems, employs eight staff, and budgets are tight.

Mr Hussein, a hearing test technician, is currently borrowing a test box from another borough. “I’ve got little confidence using this equipment, because it’s not what I’ve been trained and practised with,” he said.

The father-of-two was inspired to learn more about hearing after his sons were diagnosed with glue ear.

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He revealed this was not the first time the equipment had been stolen, as last year the charity suffered the same fate and the testing box was never recovered. “The people who have done this are sick, they don’t know what they are doing to us,” he added.

A police spokesman said: “The owner of a Vauxhall Astra called police to report his vehicle had been broken into in Wellesley Road, Ilford, at about 10pm on July 11.

“A sat nav system and a hearing aid test kit were stolen.” People who have information as to its whereabouts should contact Crimestoppers on 0800555111.