Thieves are targeting mums with luxury prams, writes Charlotte Cripps, and it’s only getting worse. But should we be asking why many of us pay through the nose for top-of-the-range strollers with leather handlebars and cup holders? My heart was pounding.

I had taken my daughter Liberty, then about 10 months old, to a mum and baby yoga class in west London, when suddenly there was an enormous scream from outside the venue — it sounded as if somebody was being murdered. We all ran out to investigate the source of the commotion. I looked over the railings. “Catch him!” one mum shouted, as a buggy snatcher fled out of sight from the pram park with three or four lightweight and collapsible YOYO prams over his shoulder.

These chic and lightweight French-designed buggies — one of the few that can fit into an aircraft holdall — are loved by celebrities including Keira Knightley, Eddie Redmayne, and Kim Kardashian. They cost around £399 new.

That is, of course, before the add-ons: there’s the cup holder for your flat white, the leather handlebars and footmuff, the parasol and mosquito net. But as far as expensive strollers are concerned, it’s cheap. The average price of an upmarket buggy is more likely to be £700 to £1500, and others cost more. A top-of-the-range Cybex Platinum e-Pram costs £2,289, with its app-controlled rocking function to soothe your baby, while a Baby Dior Stroller in powder pink costs £2,600.

The panic at the yoga class was therefore understandable — it’s not just that you can’t ferry your children around without a pram, it’s also the often eye-watering cost of replacing it. The mums like me were unable to run down the street after the thief because we were still holding our babies. Instead, we looked on in desperation to see if our prams were still there — I saw my YOYO as it had a caterpillar toy hanging from the handlebars. Some of the unlucky few collapsed in tears.

This was years ago — Liberty is now six — but thefts of buggies have only boomed since then. Today it’s a miniature crimewave, according to the Metropolitan Police. Between 2021 and July 2024, 1,500 buggies and wheelchairs (which are recorded together) were reported stolen in London alone — and it’s on the rise. Across the UK the figures are even higher — many of these thefts aren’t reported, either — and it’s creating a “black market” for posh buggies.

You only have to look on the Nextdoor app to spot neighbours of yours who’ve encountered this very problem. It’s not just wealthy yummy mummies falling victim to pram thieves, either, but ordinary women — like the one whose brand new buggy was taken from a pram park in a Sainsbury’s while her baby was sitting in the shopping trolley. Strollers are being stolen from cars in smash-and-grab sprees, or from the boot when cars are left open on people’s driveways.

Other times, buggies get stolen along with the car — but while the vehicle is often retrieved, the buggy is not. It’s a lucrative sideline for thieves and opportunists — a bit like stealing Amazon packages from people’s front gardens. Now parents are finding their stolen buggies on Facebook Marketplace or eBay, where they’ve been put up for sale by buggy burglars.

But while you might be able to buy them back — having recognised, say, the distinct vomit stains down the side of one — that’s often where the story ends. Most of the time there is no proof that the online seller is the same person who stole the buggy — and police are unable to prosecute. And all of this is a fast-growing crime due to the fact that posh pushchairs barely lose their value — as I discovered when I sold my second-hand YOYO for £200.

So, is it really any surprise that the criminal underworld has set its sights on designer prams? And even when we know that a luxury buggy makes us a target, why do we keep buying them?
Charlotte Cripps, The Independent