Raiders steal more than £20,000 of electrical cable after smashing way into Skelmersdale firm’s warehouse

Sep 6 2012 by Rob Pattinson, Skelmersdale Advertiser

RAIDERS stole more than £20,000 of electrical cable after smashing their way into a firm’s warehouse on Greenhey Place.

These images show the gang forcing a metal shutter at Skelmersdale Electrical Distributors before reversing a van into the unit and looting the shelves.

A large quantity of twin and earth electrical cable worth around £10,000 and a large quantity of single core electrical cable also worth £10,000 were loaded from the shelving units near to the metal shutters into the van before the burglars made their escape.

Ian Davis, sales director of Skelmersdale Electrical Distributors, spoke of his frustration of the crime.

He said: “We’re a very successful company that’s been going 25 years.

“It’s so frustrating and such an inconvenience to us and our customers.

“When there’s that much cable stolen, fulfilling orders is difficult until we replace it.”

Ian said the gang had checked out the unit days earlier under the pretence of asking for some cable to fulfil a job.

He said: “They walked straight in at the back of the warehouse – a lad from the office came and asked them what they were doing and they said they had been on a job and needed a foot of cable.

“They would have burnt that off to see how much PVC was on the cable and have then come back for the raid. All we can do is take as many precautions as we can. We’ve spent thousands now on more cameras, more security and ram barriers.”

PC Gene Wilson, of Skelmersdale police, said: “Although this high value burglary occurred at a business premises it is being investigated just as thoroughly as if it was a domestic burglary.

“This crime is not victimless, it is a business that employs local people and during this economic downturn when all business are being hit hard any loss to stock can be difficult to absorb. If anyone can identify the offenders they can phone in confidence Crimestoppers or Lancashire Constabulary on 101.”