BOOKS left outside a woman’s home as a free community library for people to use and return have been stolen.

But the theft has prompted parish councillors to offer a bigger home for the Little Lydiard Library set up by mum -of-two Kristina Cole - the old village telephone box.

CCTV footage showed a man pulling up in his car and picking up the two boxes containing the 50 or so books.

Kristina, 35, had put them out on Chestnut Springs in Lydiard Millicent with rules posted on signs.

She said: “I have a couple of boxes with signs on for people to come and just take the books.

“And the signs say on there that people are welcome to take anything for free and they just have to bring it back when they’re done.”

“The video shows he just pulls up in his car and loads both boxes into his car and then drives off again.”

The books were taken on June 21 at around 9:25am. After she posted CCTV pictures of the suspect on social media, several people offered to replace them.

Kristina said: “I decided I wasn’t going to run it again.

“I was a bit disheartened by it but I had so many people messaging me, offering donations to buy new boxes again.

“They were £20 each, so they’re not cheap, but it’s not about the money, I was just frustrated.

“ But I hadn’t realised how many people do use it.”

The theft shocked the village. But then Kristina had some good news.

“The parish council saw what happened to my boxes and so as well as running the little library outside my house, they have given me the phonebox which is disused so that I can set up a bigger library.

“It’s just a fantastic news.”

She explained she first set up the little library in September last year to share her books with the community.

“I love reading and it’s just seems a waste when you’ve read a book to just chuck it out, so I just thought it would be a good way of encouraging people around to give their books and get new ones,” Kristina said.

“And also, where we live, there’s a lot of elderly people who maybe can’t get out to the library or get to bookshops.

“Where I live is the centre of Lydiard, so people stop by in their cars on their way to work.

“It’s just a little community thing, I thought it would be a nice thing to do.”

She added there had only been one other issue in all the time the library had been running. “That was just some young children messing about but they came back and apologised.”

Anyone with any information about the theft is asked to call Wiltshire Police on 101.