Police chief expects new campaign to recover £2m of stolen plant

Police forces around the country have been monitoring plant movements, inspecting equipment at ports and stopping trucks on common theft routes for Operation Crassus 2.

While figures still have to be collated by the various forces, DC Ian Ellott of the newly set up Plant and Agricultural National Intelligence Unit (PANIU) said he will be disappointed if the total of machinery recovered is under £2m.

During the week-long purge, PANIU sent daily reports of the latest stolen plant to all police forces, along with photographs of the missing machines. Elliott said: "The plant unit has been contacting officers around the country and providing daily briefings and hotspots."

As a result several arrests have been made.

"What this illustrates is that by concentrating our efforts we can show the industry that the police are listening and that we are determined to stop the scourge of site theft," Elliott said.

PANIU is creating a database of stolen items and, in its first month, the unit recorded 762 items as stolen and, where necessary, acted to obtain full details in order that a proper entry could be made on the Police National Computer.

As a result, 61 items of property were recovered by police and the overall recovery rate of stolen plant has immediately improved.

Although Operation Crassus has finished for the time being, PANIU will continue to record all stolen plant on its database using both police and insurance records and will send monthly updates of missing machines to all police forces.