Cheeky thieves walk off with new garden fence from Mansfield flat

Brazen thieves walked off with a new garden fence in Mansfield just weeks after it was built.

More than seven wooden panels were taken on Sunday afternoon from the garden of a property on Shirland Drive on the Oak Tree Lane Estate.

Neighbours have been left stunned after the thieves simply removed the panels and walked away.

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Chris Clayton, who lives next door the property, said: “It happened sometime between 11am and 3pm on Sunday, I couldn’t believe it.

“I’ve been out for lunch and when I came back they’d gone.

“The place has only been empty for about 10 days and the council workers have been in doing work.

“It’s typical of the sort of things that goes on in the Oak Tree Lane Estate.

“The old fence was dilapidated and needed replacing, so this was a brand new fence, you could see it was and somebody has obviously seen it and thought they wanted it.”

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The flat is under Mansfield District Council ownership and workers have been busy renovating the flat, including erecting the new fence before a new tenant can be moved in.

This included a series of concrete bollards with the wooden panels slotted in and screwed in place.

But the culprits even took the time to unscrew the panels , which means it must have taken time to get away.

Such was their size, it’s likely they would have also been loaded into a vehicle.

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Mr Clayton, who has lived in his property since 1997, added: “It’s not a bad area generally, people do keep themselves to the themselves, but people do say that if it’s not screwed down on Oak Tree, then it will disappear.”

Director of communities at Mansfield District Council, Hayley Barsby said: “We are always disappointed when this type of crime occurs.

“The offence took place in daylight hours, so if anyone in the area witnessed any suspicious activity, or has information, we strongly urge them to contact the police.”

The council said the panels cost around£70, and will be replaced when a new tenant moves in.