'Thieves are making a living out of our misery'

A plumber has been targeted by thieves six times during his career, losing thousands of pounds worth of tools.

Andy Cam, from Sheffield, said specialist equipment had been taken from both his van and his garage, with thieves "making a living out of our misery".

Tradespeople from around the country have held a rally in Westminster to highlight the issue and call for tougher measures to stop equipment being resold.

The government said it would continue to work with police "to explore ways to tackle tool theft, ensure justice for victims and punish criminals".

Mr Cam said he had been forced to install further security measures to deter thieves from targeting him again.

"We have extra locks on our vans, we have extra alarms on our vans, we have steel van vaults which you put all your tools in and lock," Mr Cam said.

"The things that you have to go to just to make sure your tools are safe, just so you can go and do your blooming job."

He added: "You can go to a car boot sale and buy a £700 tool for £50, so they're making a living out of our misery."

Another tradesman told BBC Radio York it was "heart-breaking" to have £5,000 of tools stolen from his van overnight after thieves used a skeleton key.

Ben Smallwood, originally from Scarborough and currently based in Leeds, said his insurance company only paid out £3,000, with the culprit never caught.

"It's not just the taking the tools out of the van, there are so many other factors," he said.

"Insurance goes up, and if you hear a noise in the night you're straight to the curtain to see if there's anything going on."

"It's not just the night now either, if you're on a job and you hear a noise you're rushing to the nearest door," he added.

Gary Quinn, a Sheffield-based tradesman, is also a qualified psychotherapist and said he had seen the impact tool theft has had on the mental health of colleagues.

He previously worked for a tradesman who had about £10,000 of tools stolen, with Mr Quinn joining the London rally to support fellow traders.

"It's devastating because, along with the cost-of-living crisis, if you haven't got your tools you can't do your work or pay your mortgage," he said.

"It has added pressure and can have a real knock-on effect."

Direct Line Insurance data found that nearly £100m worth of equipment was stolen nationally from tradespeople in 2023.

The company said a tool theft was reported every 12 minutes nationally, with tools most frequently stolen from vans.

West Yorkshire was the third highest police area of the country for tool theft, according to the data, with South Yorkshire ninth.

Businesses in Yorkshire have also recently been targeted, with thieves breaking into Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway in Skipton in January to steal multiple specialist tools.

North Yorkshire Police said: "The loss of tools is bad enough, but it can have a knock-on effect causing inconvenience for tradespeople and delaying important works."

The force urged anyone with expensive tools to consider forensic marking, strong locks and CCTV, with local neighbourhood policing teams able to offer further crime prevention advice.

Trades United, the campaign group organising the rally, said it wanted to see longer sentences for criminals and curbs on selling second-hand tools at knock-down prices.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.