Timely warning

Beryl · Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:36 pm

I suppose it is a sign of the so called 'credit crunch' but well organised shed break-ins are on the up again.
Sunday the wire mesh on our lottie main gate was cut to leave a large gaping hole and before the council could get it repaired Wednesday night 30 sheds were done. Not content with breaking locks the sides of the sheds were smashed in on some. The main items taken were the larger tools, strimmers, rotavators etc. They were not interested in any hand tools at all this time. I gather 2 other sites in Gosport have been hit as well and no doubt if not caught they will go further afield.

Be warned.

Beryl.

Elaine · Fri Feb 27, 2009 5:52 pm

Ello Beryl. It's awful isn't it? Our site has had a spate of break ins too, but as there is no damage done to the gates, we can only assume it is people who no longer have plots but still have keys. Thanks to our local police, the council are about to change the locks and hopefully this should go some way to improving things. We are having regular Police Surgeries too and hope that the increased police activity will act as a deterrant to the undesirable element who see fit to cause so much anguish.

oldherbaceous · Fri Feb 27, 2009 6:29 pm

Dear Beryl, i do hope you personally didn't lose anything or have anything damaged.

Is nothing safe these days.

sally wright · Fri Feb 27, 2009 6:42 pm

Dear Beryl,
they've been here in Cambridge as well, we have had 10 sheds done over but I think they were disturbed as they left a lot of the tools and we have been able to gather them up. Out site is not fenced so it is an easy target. The only thing in our favour is that because it is not fenced and therefore not as secure then the plotholders tend not to leave many power tools down there so it is rather slim pickings.
Regards Sally Wright.

Beryl · Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:03 pm

My shed was damaged they didn't bother to try the door instead the front side panel was ripped out. Saved me the job of renewing the locks I suppose. They could see in and there wasn't anything they wanted and went on to the next shed. I've manged to put a piece of wood in the hole but sheds are not very strong and easy targets.
Those that have lost equipment the police have suggested they do the rounds of the Car Boot sales if if they see anything to call them and they will come out. But highly unlikely they will try and sell locally I would think.

All goes with the territory they say - still leaves a nasty feeling though.
Thanks for your Kind thoughts.

Beryl.

snooky · Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:33 pm

It is that time of the year when people preparing their gardens and allotments for the growing season and the thieves know this so chance their arm and stealing what they can sell.
Sod"s Law says that they will be around to our site sooner or later so I don"t lock my shed door, just fasten the latch with a piece of wire,only hand tools in the shed which they seem not to want,but if you are daft enough to leave power tools on site they will disappear never to be seen again.

.

Elaine · Sat Feb 28, 2009 2:38 pm

Am I old fashioned when I think that folk should be able to leave stuff around without some lowlife nicking it??? Sad state of affairs when you have to make an allotment shed like Fort Knox. I don't lock my greenhouses as I reckon they would cause more damage breaking in, than just opening the door. I just heard this morning that there have been several sheds done on our site. Fortunately ours is not one of them >touch wood< . It's a pain in the you-know-what. Regards. Elaine

Beryl · Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:38 pm

I agree with you Elaine but having been allotmenteering now for more than 20 years I wouldn't leave anything of value in the sheds. Just a point
occured to me today coming home and passing allotments with so many brand new spanking sheds on them. New allotment holders may not have experienced break-in before and will be keeping new equipment in them ready to start the season.
Not a good idea, I would say take your cultivators and strimmers home, A pain but worth it.

Beryl.

oldherbaceous · Sat Feb 28, 2009 4:30 pm

It's such a shame people coudn't get a rough idea of when these lowlife are going to be about, they could hire an Old Herbaceous to put in their shed at night.
And wouldn't the lowlife get the biggest most unpleasant shock of their life. :evil:

sally wright · Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:29 pm

Dear All,
in the end the total of sheds attacked was 13 with one attempted and one who had left tools out had a spade nicked. The good news so far is that 5 victims have all their tools back and several have some of their tools back. They had tried my shed but failed to gain entry.
It seems to have been a very systematic crime as they had started at the far end of the plots and worked their way back to the carpark with the stolen goods as they went.
Regards Sally Wright.

vivienz · Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:27 pm

They really are absolute scumbags. My present shed is crumbling which is a great pity, as I don't really want a bright new shiny shed that will stand out, so I may try and get a second hand one from somewhere. I have never bothered locking it, though, as I only keep handtools in it, so there isn't much worth stealing.
I think a suitable punishment would be forced digging on allotments for at least 6 months! Or chop their hands off!
Vivien

oldherbaceous · Sun Mar 01, 2009 6:31 am

Dear Vivien, i think they should have to recieve both your punishments, but of course they would have to do your first choice, first.

Elderflower · Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:21 am

A few years ago an old guy near us was sick of having his shed raided so he hid inside it at night and when the lowlives came back he blasted his shotgun off at the door. Didn`t hurt anybody but he received a custodial sentence for firearm offences to great indignation in the `letters` pages of the local newspaper.
On our site we have the facility of `smartwater` marking. A committee member trained by the police marks items with some clever stuff like dna that`s individually traceable. Each mark is recorded and can be traced back to the owner if recovered. The site has warning signs of the marking system which, hopefully, deters the more literate thief. I won`t say that it seems to have been effective as it would tempt providence!

Elaine · Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:59 pm

We also take home anything which we assume would tempt theives. The Smart Water stuff has just been distributed on our site too, though we have yet to collect ours. It will be interesting to see if this, our iminent key change plus the increased police interest, has the desired effect. We all hope so. Equally infuriating, last year we had alot of produce being stolen from plots. I went to harvest runner beans only to find every single bean had been picked...and with 20 plants, that was one hell of alot of runner beans. They also helped themselves to other plot holders onions, peas, carrots, and our pals cherry tree was completely stripped of fruit. It's ridiculous as everyone is only too happy to give produce away. :evil:

Shallot Man · Tue Mar 03, 2009 9:25 am

Seem to recall some years ago an old time copper telling me the best way to protect mowers/rotovators, and garden tools is to paint the handles an outstanding colour, IE pink/red, in fact anything that would make the tools stand out at a boot fair, he was of the opinion that toe-rag thieves would leave these tools and move on to easier pickings, the other bit of unofficial advice he gave me, was if say ten shed's were broken into, all ten plot-holders must report it as individuals and ALL ask for a crime scene no:, this buggers up the police crime figures, and at least for a week the patrol car will at least keep an eye on your site.

Timely warning

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