A WOMAN on a mobility scooter has caused £3,500 worth of damage to an arcade after crashing into a machine.

The woman was caught on CCTV at the Happidrome Arcade, in Marine Parade, Southend, causing the damage and then riding off laughing. It is unclear if the incident was intentional.

Owner of the arcade, Martin Richardson, is calling on residents to help identify the woman, who had a child and a dog with her at the time.

He has reported the incident, which happened four weeks ago, to the police. Mr Richardson decided to release the images after the woman have a false address. He is pursuing charges for criminal damage.

Mr Richardson said: “What happened was along came this woman on a mobility scooter.

“She had a kid on the front of it and a dog alongside.

“The scooter was massive.

“She crashed into the side of one of the machines.

“She drove forwards and back and seemed to think it was funny.”

Staff approached her and told her she had caused a lot of damage to the machine so they would need to take contact details for her.

However, when the police visited the address, they discovered she had given false details.

Mr Richardson added: “It is the audacity of her to give false details.

“She has also caused some other poor woman distress when they had the police knocking on the door accusing them of doing this.

“This isn’t a witch hunt - I don’t want anyone finding her and knocking over her scooter.

“I just want to identify her.

“The poor police have a lot to deal with, so we want to help them out and carry out our own investigation.

“We want to bring charges for criminal damage.”

He added that the machine was an old model and so couldn’t be repaired, but a replacement would be about £3,500. Buying the modern equivalent would cost about £5,000.

It is not a legal requirement for mobility scooters to have insurance unless they are driven on the road. Mr Richardson said they were welcome in the arcade, as long as users were careful of children using the venue.

Anyone with information about the incident or the identity of the woman pictured can call Essex Police on 101.