Beat the Thieves!

A DRAMATIC rise in the number of thefts from vans in west Wiltshire over the past month is adding up thousands of pounds in losses for local businesses. Over the past four weeks, there has been 23 reported incidents of thefts, or attempted thefts, from vehicles in the Warminster and Westbury area, of which nine involved commercial vehicles. This is in comparison to the usual one or two reported cases of thefts from work vans per month.

The Wiltshire Times is working in partnership with Wiltshire Police to produce a downloadable poster to highlight to prospective thieves that the vehicles are empty of any valuables or equipment. So please download the poster and place in your van.

Electrician Mike Corteen, 25, of Orchard Road, Westbury, was working for builders C.J Deighton and Co when he had items worth at least £400 taken from his Volkswagen Caddy on Saturday, May 12. Mr Corteen said: “I found the rear window was smashed. Someone took the drill from inside the van. They would have had to rummage through and there were other things in the van but they took the most expensive item so they must’ve known what they were looking for.”

In the past four months there have been incidents reported in Warminster, including Boreham Road, Morrison’s car park off Weymouth Street, The Dene and Portway, as well as the villages of Corsley and Heytesbury, and two further incidents in Westbury. Each incident appears to have taken place in the early hours of the morning with expensive equipment such as drills and disc-cutters taken.

Inspector Steve Douglass of Warminster police said: “There is definitely a local problem in Warminster and Westbury. It is becoming a major issue. “When you get such a large number of offences like this it is likely that there is a team with specialist knowledge of the business targeting the area.

“The trouble is that it is sometimes very difficult for builders to remove all of their equipment from their vans but at the moment it is a necessity. If it can’t be removed they have to be sure the vehicle is properly secure.”


To download a pdf version of the poster CLICK HERE