Published: 29 July, 2010
by TOM FOOT

A 96-YEAR-OLD great-grandmother is demanding the return of her wheelchair after it was “stolen” at a summer picnic party in Regent’s Park.

Kathy Falciola, who has lived in Munster Square for 50 years, got up to present Mayor Jonathan Simpson with a mince tart during the Cumberland Market Midsummer Picnic.

But when she went to sit back down she discovered her wheelchair had vanished.

She said: “My wheelchair cost me a few hundred pounds. Now I have to use the old one I donated to the Third Age Project.” 

The mystery appeared to have been solved when friends of Ms Falciola found an abandoned wheelchair outside the Victory Pub in Albany Street.

“But it wasn’t mine,” said Ms Falciola, adding: “If someone brought it back I would say ‘thank God’.”

Ms Falciola, who has lived through two world wars, is feted in Regent’s Park ward for her pantomime performances at the Dick Collins Hall.

Last year, the nonagenarian played Dorothy’s dog Toto in a festive production of the Wizard of Oz. She was starring in a summer drama show in the Hall on Friday when the New Journal dropped by. 

Ms Falciola said: “It’s a show about London, which I know a lot about.”