North East Herts MP, Sir Oliver Heald, has been approached by local residents in Royston about repeated theft of tools from vans in the town. Sir Oliver has immediately taken this up with Herts Police, together with Councillors Fiona Hill and Sarah Dingley. He recently held a meeting with Sgt John Vine and the Councillors to talk through the problems.
Police have had success in disrupting a number of these crimes and there have been arrests, but investigations continue.
Royston Town Council has been incentivising the marking of tools so that they can be identified and this will hopefully help to put off the criminals. New initiatives to help keep the tools safe are being developed. Sir Oliver has also taken this up with new Chief Inspector, Sally Phillips, who showed strong determination to tackle the issue and encourage prevention.
Commenting, Sir Oliver said:
‘The Police are working hard to detect these crimes and have had some success, but there is more to do. I would appeal to all tradesmen to be very careful over prevention and to make sure that they take tools inside overnight, ensure their van is locked and where possible use a tool safe. I will continue to press for action to stop these mean spirited crimes which put the livelihood of our tradesmen at risk.’