Officers from the Essex Police Rural Engagement Team have recovered stolen construction equipment in Cold Norton and Norton Heath.

They located a JCB telehandler in Norton Heath, near Ongar, on 22 June, four days after it was stolen from a construction site in Roxwell. With the assistance of colleagues from the force’s Stolen Vehicle Intelligence Unit, they used tracking data alongside local intelligence and specialist knowledge to trace it.

Just days earlier, in Cold Norton, rural engagement officers had spotted a £20,000 digger behind a large mound of mud. Routine checks led to further investigation, which identified it as having been stolen from Hutton on May 15.

A trailer with it, valued at £4,500, was also identified as having been stolen from Rochford at around the same time.

The vehicles will now undergo forensic examination and the team’s enquiries into the thefts are ongoing.

All owners have been informed and, needless to say, they are delighted they will be getting their property back.

With permissions https://essexpolicemedia.co.uk/