Information on Loughborough

Thefts from Builders Vehicles

Posted on 19/11/2007
P. Klein

Posted on 19th November 2007

P. Klein

policeman in Loughborough

Loughborough Policing Unit are urging builders, contractors and trades people in and around Charnwood not to leave expensive equipment in their vans at night after a recent flurry of thefts.

In the last few weeks in the Loughborough area and surrounding villages of Mountsorrel, Kegworth and Hathern seven vans have been broken into. Taken have been tools and electrical equipment. The pattern is that each time  its happened during the night and some have occurred at the weekend. 

Inspector Tim McCabe, from the North Area Community Safety Bureau, said; "The best way to stop these offences is to empty your van every night and lock your equipment away.  Although it can be inconvenient to empty your van at the end of the day it is not as inconvenient as having to replace the stolen items or lose work because you no longer have the right tools.

A member of the inLoughborough team has witnessed the theft of builders tools from a vehicle in Loughborough and it literally takes seconds, 15 seconds at the most. Fortunately in that instance pictures were taken and the police called, 6 months later the culprit was found guilty.

So what can be done? Tim explained:"Other things you can do to reduce the risk is to always ensure your vehicle is locked when you leave it and consider fitting an internal security cage to prevent anyone from forcing their way in.  You could leave a note on the vehicle saying something like no tools are kept in this vehicle overnight, and its advisable to fit your vehicle with a good quality alarm and always park it in a well lit place.

Most people who steal construction equipment do so in minutes. If they are deterred for more than three to five minutes and the area is well lit, they most likely will go somewhere else.  If your van doesnt have an alarm fitted consider having one installed.

However it is important to mark the property as yours Tim McCabe  explained: "Post coding your powers tools and equipment can also act as a deterrent and helps us reunite the tools with their rightful owner if they are recovered.". It is important that the method of marking cant easily be removed. This might mean engraving or even using a welder on larger equipment to irrevocably mark the property.

Of course another way of reducing this type of crime is to refuse goods that may be stolen and tell the police. This way the market for such items will be diminished and there will be less incentive for people to carry out this type of crime.

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