A BUSINESS owner from the Bridgwater area has had tools stolen from their company van.

The victim, from Woolavington, asked to remain anonymous.

They told the Mercury they woke up for work as normal on the morning of Friday, December 8, but were shocked to discover their van doors had been prised open, with many of their belongings missing.

“I woke up this morning and the doors on the van had been opened," the victim explained.

“They’ve cleared out all the electricals.”

It's not the first time the victim has been made the target of van-theft in recent years, and they believe there has been a recent surge in van break-ins in the area, citing fellow tradespeople who have recently shared similar experiences.

Sadly, the victim said that the Christmas period is a popular time for robbers to steal from vans. 

"It’s just annoying for general builders, we just get targeted at this time of year really,” they said.

"It would be nice if people took it more seriously nowadays.”

Avon and Somerset Police are now appealing for witnesses with any evidence of the robbery to come forward.

A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police said: "The van, which was parked in Edgebury, Woolavington, was broken into between 8pm on Thursday (December 7) and 7am this morning (Friday 8 December).

"A quantity of tools were stolen.

"If anyone has relevant dashcam or doorbell footage, or if they saw anything which could help, then we’d ask them to call us on 101 and give the call handler the reference number 5223299351."

According to a study conducted by CompareTheMarket, nearly 67% of break-ins include having tools stolen, and research shows that only 1% are ever recovered due to their high resale value, leaving a devastating impact on tradespeople and their ability to do their job.

The second most stolen item in van thefts is equipment which includes van safes, ladders and storage.

Data from the study predicts rates of van theft will unfortunately, rise dramatically across the UK, with numbers set to almost triple from 8,072 reported incidents in 2019, to a projected 20,531 break-ins in 2030.