Officers urge vigilance following two JCB thefts in Newark

There has been a call for vigilance and for owners to protect their machinery, as officers investigate the theft of two yellow-orange JCB telehandlers from a farm in Langford, near Newark, on Friday night.

Inspector Simon Riley from Nottinghamshire Police said: “Rural crime is an issue that Nottinghamshire Police takes very seriously, as we know the impact that these kinds of thefts have on legitimate, hard-working businesses who rely on this machinery to do business.

Nottinghamshire Police were called just after 9am on Saturday 12 October to the report of the thefts, which are believed to have taken place at around 9pm the night before. The vehicles were last seen heading towards Collingham on the A1133. One of the stolen vehicles is pictured, while the other is similar in its appearance.

Inspector Riley said: "We take a particular interest in the theft of heavy plant machinery as the costs of these thefts run into tens of thousands of pounds and intelligence suggests that organised crime groups target these vehicles to break into cash machines to help fund other serious criminal activities.

“Our enquiries are now ongoing to locate both vehicles and I would urge anyone who sees anything suspicious involving farm or construction machinery to call police immediately so that – together – we can help stop these criminals in their tracks.”

Anyone with any information is asked to call Nottinghamshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 256 of 12 October 2019.