Get the Echo newsletter - it has never been more important to stay informed Sign me up now Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Comedian and musician Bill Bailey had his tour van stolen from outside the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall before he went on stage last night.

Bill, who is performing two nights at the Hope Street venue, tweeted to say: “Lively crowd @liverpoolphil last night - shame our tour bus was nicked from outside the venue! So gig not too bad all things considered.”

Bill’s tour manager, Neil Adams, said the comedian went ahead with his performance last night despite having his tour disrupted by two thieves who struck at around 2.30pm yesterday.

He said: “The two robbers entered the Liverpool Philharmonic venue via a wedged open side door, broke into the production room and lifted touring personnel laptop and two sets of keys for tour cars.

“One car was in the car park so they were unable to steal this vehicle, however our crew tour van, which was parked directly outside the stage door was stolen.

“This sadly contained three crew suitcases and a large selection of Bill Bailey merchandise.”

Mr Adams said the stolen vehicle was a Mercedes ‘Tiger Tours Sprinter Splitter’ van . It was silver/grey in colour with the registration number CE14 VFS.

He added: “The show will go on tonight regardless of the chaos this has caused to our tour.”

Fans took to social media to express their support for Bill following the thefts.

One, Janet Burns, tweeted: “Sorry to hear that unfortunately we have scumbags who give us a bad name.”

The Phil has passed CCTV of a man who was not part of the touring party to police.

Police confirmed they received a report that a Mercedes Sprinter van was stolen from outside the Philharmomic Hall at around 2.30pm yesterday.

A spokesperson said: “Enquiries are ongoing at this time, CCTV is being examined and anyone with information is encouraged to call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

Bill Bailey’s new show Limboland is described as being about “the gap between how we imagine our lives to be and how they really are”.

The publicity for the show describes Bill “railing against a world that doesn’t match up to our expectations and contemplates the true nature of happiness”.