Ambitious thieves attempt to steal entire Dorset home

Ambitious thieves not content with household burglary tried to pinch an entire Dorset property brick by brick.

Dressed in yellow vests and armed with ladders and hard hats the thieves pretended to be workmen dismantling the house in Parkstone.

They were so convincing that a neighbour even inadvertently helped them by collecting fallen tiles from the home’s roof.

They even took a lunch break.

All the roof slates were stolen and one of the walls of the three-bedroom home dismantled before the alarm was raised.

The home’s owner – a property developer – said the damage would cost about £10,000 to repair.

He told the Daily Echo: “You’ve near enough got to laugh at the cheek of it – the audacity. They were literally stealing my house.

“I was amazed when I heard someone was on site. There’s nothing in the property that’s worth anything, but there they were, taking the walls down.”

The theft started in October when the roof slates went missing and was only reported this month when a neighbour reported to the developer that the walls were coming down.

Two men have been arrested over the incident and released on bail.