A SELF-EMPLOYED builder from North Bradley is £5,000 worse off after masked thieves strapped his wheelie bin to the top of their getaway van and used it to steal 400kg of driveway paving liquid.

Three men wearing balaclavas pulled up outside Paul Jenkins’ house in Ash Drive on Sunday at around 10.30pm and stole 100 buckets of resin, worth £2,500, that were on his driveway.

A neighbour who witnessed the incident called Mr Jenkins but by the time he got to the window, the thieves were driving off with the goods.

Mr Jenkins had to go out and spend another £2,500 replacing the liquid so he could carry out a job for a customer in what was a nightmare start to the week.

“This is a huge blow to my business, PJJ Contractors Ltd, and my three employees,” he said.

“This is a targeted attack and I am furious about it.

“I got the stuff on Saturday afternoon and was going to load it in my van but the rain was hammering down. My neighbour said they pulled up, tipped the rubbish out of the wheelie bin, got the buckets and then filled it with the resin, before driving off.

“Now I have let a customer down and my three employees cannot work. I have never had anything like this. I hope the police catch these criminals.

“My three kids and wife are scared. They don’t want to be alone at night as they think something like this might happen again. You just don’t ever expect something like this to happen. I was in bed at the time so I missed it. It has been a nightmare for us.”

PC Nigel Willcocks said: “We are appealing for witnesses and information to help in our investigation. We are looking for a dark estate car which had an extra large wheelie bin attached to the roof. If anyone knows anything about this contact the police immediately.”