Not being able to recover stolen plant machinery can hit a business dearly
VHF signal leads police to £14,000 worth of stolen plant in less than 3 hours
South Wales Constabulary successfully recovered a year old Thwaites 3 tonne dumper worth approximately £14,000 in less than three hours, thanks to support from TRACKER, the UK’s leading stolen plant and agricultural recovery provider.
The dumper was on hire from Hire One Limited and was found on an industrial site in a warehouse in Cardiff. The police noticed a new door lock on the warehouse, upon further investigation with the help of TRACKER, the Police discovered the stolen dumper hidden within it.
Paul Mahoney, Plant Controller at Hire One, explains: “Over 60% of our equipment is fitted with a TRACKER unit, providing protection against permanent loss of machinery and tools. Thankfully the police were able to locate the dumper at such speed that it had no impact on our business, saving us a huge amount of financial loss and inconvenience. We’re very relieved there was a good ending and it was back in the customer’s possession by that evening.”
Adrian Davenport, Police Liaison Manager for TRACKER, says: “Not being able to recover stolen plant machinery can hit a business dearly. We are not just talking about the cost of replacing the stolen asset, but also loss of business revenue and increased insurance premiums. TRACKER’s relationship with UK police forces certainly ensures we can recover the majority of our customer’s stolen property within 24 hours.”
The National Plant & Equipment Register (TER) reports that plant theft costs the UK around £1 million every week, with 95% of stolen plant equipment never being recovered each year. However, TRACKER figures show that a staggering 68% of all plant it recovers is done so within 24 hours of the SVR device being activated.”
