Police warn of Banbury area tool theft increase - and offer a register for reports

And they are offering a register for tools to enable them to identify them if your equipment should be lost to theft.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Cherwell said: “Unfortunately we have seen a recent increase in thefts of power tools from work vehicles across the Cherwell district.

"This type of offence has a huge impact for self-employed victims particularly as they are so expensive to replace and repeat victims may be refused cover by their insurance provider.

“The tools in the photographs shown were successfully recovered by police in relation to a report of theft from a vehicle in the West Oxfordshire area, which resulted in a successful prosecution and the items being returned to their owner.

"However, not everyone is so fortunate. It's especially important to security mark your power tools and keep an inventory of their serial numbers, in order to prove ownership in the event of police recovering them as part of crime enquiries.”

Most tools have unique serial numbers but people do not record them. If they are recorded and given to the police after they are stolen it is difficult to search 43 police forces systems.

TVP says it will advertise from this account any future free tool marking events being done by your local Neighbourhood Policing teams on the TVP Cherwell Facebook page here. In the meantime, creating an account on the following websites will allow you to create a secure list of your property:

Equipment Register (https://orlo.uk/s0qUx) and to log your equipment visit Immobilise at (https://orlo.uk/3CyfD).