chickencam Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 We went to get some carrots today now that the ground has defrosted and discovered that most of the sheds on our site have had their padlocks cut and things stolen. We have lost a Stihl strimmer and a large Wolf hand cultivator, they left the bigger stuff like the huge old rotavator and mower. OH is down there now putting new locks on incase they come back We have had the same plots for 10 years and only once before have we had a problem, when the door on out metal shed was forced but they didn't get in. They still didn't get into that one just the large wooden one by cutting through the hasps not the padlocks because they were too thick. Very annoyed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 That's awful . I don't suppose there's any way of tracing who the lowlives who did it were . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 So sorry to hear it, its very annoying and frustrating. We had ours broken into a year or so ago and they took OH's little gas cooker that he used for his tea. How anybody isn't spotted walking away with all these goods amazes me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emchook Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 yuck ! Sometimes I despair of human beings.. I just dont get it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 It seems that this happened over Christmas and several people have reported it to the police but they aren't taking it very seriously, but we know of several people who have lost rotavators etc so it must add up to £1000 worth of stuff at least and we have only spoken to a few people. OH has put a self adhesive alarm on the bottom of the door where it is not too obvious and we have spent a fortue on new padlocks and hasps. We are going to report it too in the hope that the more people that tell the police what has been stolen the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 How infuriating. Keep an eye on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 So sorry to read this How pathetic are some people, always wanting what others have without having to work for it, low life rubbish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted January 17, 2010 Author Share Posted January 17, 2010 We have already checked ebay for items within a 50 mile radius nothing so far. OH and DS have been discussing all sorts of heath robinson security devices all day some more viable than others Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAJ Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 It seems that this happened over Christmas and several people have reported it to the police but they aren't taking it very seriously, but we know of several people who have lost rotavators etc so it must add up to £1000 worth of stuff at least and we have only spoken to a few people. OH has put a self adhesive alarm on the bottom of the door where it is not too obvious and we have spent a fortue on new padlocks and hasps. We are going to report it too in the hope that the more people that tell the police what has been stolen the better. Which allotments? - I have to say it is a regular occurance at ours (Blacksmith's Lane) the police are very good and have made arrests a few times - the last being a guy walking through the vilage at midnight with a wheelbarrow full of tools - an off duty policeman past him and stopped him for a few questions. Now our allotment shed now only has things like containers and bags for taking produce home in and some crop storage - over the years we lost a wheel barrow, various spades & forks, garden knives, etc. All tools are now kept at home and taken down every time we go to the allotment. Have you tried the car boot? We have always looked at the racecourse on the Sunday when tools have gone. Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted January 18, 2010 Author Share Posted January 18, 2010 Hall Road, we don't know when it exactly happened but we will be at the car boot next weekend but I expect that will be too late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAJ Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 Hall Road, we don't know when it exactly happened but we will be at the car boot next weekend but I expect that will be too late. Just make sure everyone reports it individually to the police and get the allotment committee to talk to the police. For our allotments we now have an e-mail list, so if someone gets broken into everyone gets told and you can get down and check yours out and report it as well - the police can ignore 1 'minor' crime - when 20 people report similar incidents it is more likely to get investigated. The local police do now patrol around the allotments due to the number of reported incidents and in two years they have made a couple of arrests, but no return of stolen property for the first one, which admitted serveral different incidents over a year. Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenanne Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Thats terrible. No advice to add to the above, but it must be jsut so frustating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Nothing surprises me any more, sadly. Where I used to live I had three fully planted large window boxes stolen from the front garden in the night once; and the house is on a a busy main road Some neighbours had whole trees taken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 That's dreadful news. Sorry to hear it. I remember reading a magazine article once (think it was Grow your own Veg)? about making a compost bin tool store. You dig a very deep hole and put a compost bin on top. Place a false compartment in the top of the bin, so when opened it looks like compost. Lift the bin and the tools are inside! Shame you have to be devious on an allotment! Hope you get the tools back somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted January 20, 2010 Author Share Posted January 20, 2010 we thought of sunken containers but only in the form of elephant traps Seriously though I had a call from the local PCSO today and she is holding a 'street surgery' outside the allotments on Saturday morning, so they are taking it seriously which is good to know. She has given me her direct contact details in case of further trouble too. Our's is a church owned site run by a local land agent, it doesn't have an allotment commitee and at times has lacked a sense of community. Things are improving as the average age of the plot holders comes down, which it has a lot in the past couple of years. The break ins are one thing but if they trash any crops that would break our hearts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAJ Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 we thought of sunken containers but only in the form of elephant traps Seriously though I had a call from the local PCSO today and she is holding a 'street surgery' outside the allotments on Saturday morning, so they are taking it seriously which is good to know. She has given me her direct contact details in case of further trouble too. Our's is a church owned site run by a local land agent, it doesn't have an allotment commitee and at times has lacked a sense of community. Things are improving as the average age of the plot holders comes down, which it has a lot in the past couple of years. The break ins are one thing but if they trash any crops that would break our hearts. They cut off someones early toms grown from Jan in a heated green house here 2 years ago. Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAJ Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 I just had this e-mail from our allotment group that alerts when we have break-ins: Hi everyone, You may have seen the article in today's Echo about considerable allotment break-ins at Hall Road, Leckhampton - mainly taking mowers, strimmers, tillers etc etc. So just a reminder (as if we eeally needed it) to be aware. And here it is in the local paper: http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/cheltenham/cheltenhamnews/Leckhampton-allotment-sheds-raided-crooks/article-1738035-detail/article.html So whilst they have no messaging, they break-ins on their allotments are being reported to us 4 miles away as a warning! Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 Thanks for that link to the story. I suppose I can see the point that one person made in their comments, that t is teling all the low lives out there that sheds might be worth breaking into but at least the police are taking it seriously and it is a lesson to us all about where we keep our tools even though it will be a pain to take things down there every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 we've had our shed broken into at our lottie recently, not sure exactly when it happened as we haven't been down there for a while and there was no-one around to ask when we discovered it. Nothing take or trashed but still upsetting. I've mailed the allotment manager at the council suggesting they give us all each others contact details so we can keep in touch about things like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
