MORE than £80,000 worth of plant believed to have been stolen from the Wimborne area has been recovered by police.

Officers are still hunting those behind the thefts, which they believe occurred in the Cranborne area on Tuesday, November 8.

Dorset Police said they received a report at 8.35am on November 8 relating to the theft of plant machinery and power tools that were stored in a shipping container at a rural location in Cranborne.

“Following detailed enquiries, officers located two vans – which were also believed to have been stolen and on false plates,” a spokesperson said.

“Inside the vans officers located a number of items of plant machinery including two ride-on mowers and a utility vehicle, with a total value of more than £80,000.

“Enquiries are ongoing to locate the remainder of the stolen property and identify those involved in the theft.”

Sergeant Natalie Skinner, of Dorset Police’s Rural Crime Team, said: “Thanks to a swift response by officers and the support of the Wimborne Neighbourhood Team, we have been able to recover these valuable items for the victim.

“We are determined to take robust action against those who target rural premises in this way, and we will be carrying out a detailed investigation to identify those involved in this crime.

“We would urge anyone who witnessed any suspicious vehicle movements in the area on the morning of Tuesday November 8, or who has any information that might assist our enquiries, to please contact us.”

Anyone with information should contact Dorset Police via www.dorset.police.uk/contact, or on 101, quoting incident number 55220181523. Alternatively, independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously online via Crimestoppers-uk.org or on 0800 555 111.