Raiders make off with Christmas trees

Dec 12 2008 by Laurie Stocks-Moore, Chester Chronicle

Raiders make off with Christmas trees

THIEVES stole more than 130 Christmas trees from a garden centre and £30,000 worth of copper cable.

Raiders stole high quality pines from Robert Gleave and Sons Home & Garden Centre, Mill Lane at 8pm on Wednesday December 3.

Electrical appliances company Golden Triangle Power Generation, at Weaver Park Industrial Estate on the same road was struck by a gang in a van only 15 minutes later.

DS Ian Morgan of Frodsham Police said: “The proximity of the two – they’re virtually across the road from each other – and the times they occurred means it was probably the same people.”

Owner of Gleaves’ Joe Halpin is shocked that nearly a quarter of the trees he had ordered have been taken.

He said: “They’ve parked up on the back road and jumped over the top of the hedge. Two or three of them must have been throwing them over and another throwing them into the vehicles.

Joe says the trees he sells retail for up to £50 each and the thieves picked the best.

He added: “It’s hard enough in this financial climate without someone taking your property. We buy in around 600 trees. You can imagine what that’s done to our profits.”

Minutes later at Golden Triangle Power Generation, a member of staff spotted around four men piling into a white transit van and in the aftermath the owner discovered £30,000 worth of copper had been taken.

The men, who had Mancunian accents, threatened member of staff Barry Corns who then contacted police.

Greater Manchester police found much of the cabling following a high-speed chase. The van is now being fingerprinted at a police yard.

Cheshire Police are investigating CCTV footage taken of the cable raid.