Halstead: Thieves break into work van and steal tools

The Halstead resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, is devastated that his builder son’s work van was broken into at some point between late on Friday, February 2, and the early hours of Saturday, February 3.

On Saturday at around 9am, the father was contacted by a neighbour who told him his son’s van was damaged.

The neighbour’s van was also broken into.

Crime - The incident has been reported to Essex Police (Image: Essex Police)

Meanwhile, the resident was contacted by his daughter who found an image on social media which showed discarded empty toolboxes had been discovered in Hedingham Road, which were later confirmed to be the son’s property.

Expensive power tools were missing from inside the van.

His son, who works on building sites, was away for the weekend and the father had to inform him on the phone of the situation.

“He was devastated," said the dad.

"We worry about this sort of thing happening. You couldn’t get stronger locks, but they still managed to get them open - they came prepared.

“It is usually parked up the road. The van’s doors have been damaged. It was easy to open when we found it. We could see immediately that tools were missing."

Town - The A131 in Halstead (Image: Google Maps)

He said: “I feel extremely angry and upset. My son is just trying to earn a living. It takes a long time to build up tools for a trade.

“You can only get insurance for certain things. All that gets taken away, and he has to start from scratch now.

“I can’t spend £4,000 on tools for him either.

“As a parent there can be nothing worse than understanding what this means, yet feeling helpless to be able to put it right.

“It really hurt that I couldn’t stop it.”

His son is still using the damaged van and is borrowing tools to continue working.

The incident has been reported to Essex Police.