Tradesmen urged to secure vehicles after spate of tool theft

Overnight between Wednesday, December 10 and Thursday, December 11, police received reports of seven vans that had been broken into around Barlborough, Dronfield, South Normanton and Chesterfield.

A red coloured Honda generator was stolen after offenders forced open the doors or an Iveco Daily van that was parked along Tallys End in Barlborough.

Offenders smashed the window of a silver coloured Ford Transit van that was parked in the Premier Inn car park on Carter Lane East, South Normanton. An Apple iPod, Tom Tom Sat Nav, Nike trainers and tools were stolen from within.

A Makita angle grinder, a Dewalt cordless drill and a FSEC saw were stolen after offenders prised the lock of a van that was parked on the driveway of a property on Gomersal Lane in Dronfield.

Tools were also stolen from two vans that were parked in the Ibis Hotel car park on Tallys End, Barlborough and another two vans on Brimington Road North in Chesterfield.

Community Safety Inspector Russ Dakin said: “There have been several incidents of thefts from around the Chesterfield Division and I would like to take this opportunity to ask motorists to take extra security steps to protect their vans from being targeted by thieves.

“I would encourage people to security mark their tools to make them less attractive to thieves, as they love clean, unmarked items that can be easily sold on. By doing so, this will make your possessions identifiable and traceable should they be stolen and recovered, and also less attractive to thieves.”

Anyone with any information about the incidents, or knows the whereabouts of the tools, is asked to contact police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously 0800 555 111.