Plant theft increases again

Plant theft increased slightly last year, although the value of the equipment taken has dropped marginally to £36m, according to the latest report from TER.

In its latest report, TER identifies 3,687 items stolen throughout the UK, including 223 quad bikes and 900 trailers. Trailers remain the thieves' favourite, while excavators were a close second with 850 stolen during 2008. Then there is a big gap to the 244 dumpers.

The average cost of the stolen equipment was £9,800, but three crushers top the league with values around £140,000 mark, with the costliest excavator thieves got away with being a £90,000 Hitachi ZX30. Surrey suffered most thefts (4.2%), while Thames Valley and the Met tied for second place on 3.9% each.

The report highlights the thieves' increasing efforts to hide stolen machines' true identities including: removing Cesar stickers; fitting new seats; removing the acoustic foam in the engine bay in case it contains transponders; and making fake identity plates.

TER's manager Tim Purbrick said when it comes to due diligence checking for plant theft, too many parties still adopt the 'ostrich approach.'