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The Volvo FL7 tipper was taken from the depot of John Wordsworth (Haulage) in Bolton, Greater Manchester. Proprietor John Wordsworth says: "We had no choice but to make the driver redundant, which hurts just before Christmas - although we are doing our best to help find him another job. Obviously he wasn't very happy about it, and neither were we."

The company, whose head office is in Buxton, Derbyshire, had six vehicles before the tipper was stolen. "We only fitted a new clutch a fortnight  ago," Wordsworth says. He adds: "In 17 years I've never had so much as a bolt stolen, so it did come as a bit of a shock."

Truck dealer SBS was also the victim of tipper thieves last week when three trucks were taken from its base in Brackley, Northants. Owner Seamus O'Dwyer says a team of "six or seven" used oxyacetylene burners and cut through three gates to get to the vehicle compound.

"The thieves clearly knew what they were doing because all the vehicles were fitted with immobilisers, none of them had any diesel in them and all of the batteries were flat," O'Dwyer adds.

The thieves moved an Iveco tipper which was blocking the last gate and took a Scania 114C 340 and two MAN FE35 360s, both with underfloor tipping gear.

The Scania was later found in Essex thanks to the vehicle's tracking device, although it had been damaged.