Tradesmen urged to remove tools from vehicles at night

A clampdown on car break-ins has indentified a trend in the theft of tradesmen’s tools from their vans.

In the past three months there have been 30 such thefts across the borough. Ten in Middleton, seven in Rochdale South, three in Rochdale North, six Heywood and four in the Pennines.

Rochdale Council and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) are appealing to tradesmen operating across the borough to be extra vigilant and to prevent them falling victim to this type of crime they’re advising that all tools be removed from the vehicles at night.

Inspector Lin Houldershaw from Greater Manchester Police, said: “It may take time to empty a vehicle at the end of a long working day, but it’s nothing compared with waking up to no tools to complete a week’s work.

“Emptying your vehicle each night is a good habit to get into, many electrical tools are costly to replace and hard to trace on the second hand market.

“I would urge all drivers to consider what they have in their vehicles and to remove anything of value over night.”

Community Safety Officer for Rochdale, Mark Reynolds, at Rochdale Borough Council, added: “We’ve been making contact with as many local tradesmen and businesses as possible over the last few months to warn them of this risk of theft and offer them practical crime prevention advice.

“But we would also extend this warning to all car owners. Please remember to remove all valuables from your vehicle and leave nothing on display.”