‘My van has to be in my sight’: Tradespeople join protest against tool theft A protest organiser warned of the strain that tool theft is putting on tradespeople as vans carried out a slow drive demonstration outside Parliament to call for harsher penalties.
The Portsmouth North MP’s proposed reforms to the guidelines include adding theft of tools to the list of examples considered as causing “significant additional harm” to a victim, and better recognising the financial loss incurred when tools are stolen.
“What they’re highlighting today is their call to action to try and give more funding to police, harsher sentencing and trying to outlaw tools being sold at car boot sales, because that’s really where there’s a big issue,” she said.
You know, they’re mainly self-employed guys so it’s really tough,” she told PA. She said police take it seriously but their resources are limited and because many tools are not marked, they are easy to sell on, for example at car boot sales.
He said he feels so anxious about the risk of theft that he needs to be able to see his van while he is working and finds it hard to sleep at night.
