A DANCE school principal from Yate was left devastated after her house was broken into and her car containing vital paperwork was stolen – but she has been reunited with the vehicle thanks to a good Samaritan.

Erin Cacacie, 37, who runs REDDS Rhythm, Energy, Dance, Drama and Singing school, believes she was still awake when thieves used a hammer to break into her home in Long Croft, in Brimsham Park, Yate.

It happened between 1.30am and 2.30am on Tuesday (June 28) and burglars took Erin’s handbag, her car keys, bank cards and £80 cash.

Two iPods which held all the dance school’s music were also stolen from the house, along with a USB stick with GCSE and BTec information stored on.

Her car, a red Citroen C3 which contained many of the school’s syllabus folders, registers and Erin’s own dance kit, was stolen from outside her home.

But the distinctive vehicle, branded with REDDS logo, was found the following day in Gleneagles, Yate, by an eagle-eyed member of the public who had seen Erin’s posts about the theft on Facebook.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Erin, who founded award-winning REDDS in 2012.

“We had a mutual friend on Facebook but I don’t know her. She saw the car and then saw my post, drove back to the car and phoned the number on it.

“Everything was still in there except my handbag and the iPods. It’s such a relief.”

“I think I must have still been awake when it happened,” she said. “I didn’t hear a thing, neither did my dog. It’s horrible.

“The police said it was a professional and the forensics police officer said they used latex gloves and we were targeted because our lock is a ‘paddle’ style front door lock where you lock it and lift the handle up. They believe something was used to ping it open.

“The police were aware incidents like this were happening but not in this area.

“In all my time in Yate I have never had anything like this happen.”

Students at the school, which meets at Shire Way Community Centre, are due to take exams at the weekend and Erin said they would go ahead. But she urged anyone who is offered any Independent Dance Association, jazz, acro and contemporary or British Ballet Organisation intro, pre-primary, primary and grades 1 to 5 syllabuses for sale to get in touch. The iPods were a shuffle model in metallic blue and a Nano 8GB in silver.

Erin’s car is branded with the REDDS logo, registration number WU13 KRK.