The closure of Alconbury truckstop in Cambridgeshire appears to be taking its toll as a spate of LGV curtain-slashings are reported in the area. The incidents have forced Cambridgeshire Police to step up its patrols and even ask the Road Haulage Association (RHA) for help in a potential sting operation to catch the thieves. The A1/A14 corridor
is being targeted because the lack of truck parking facilities is forcing drivers to park in unsecure areas. Police are telling truck drivers to remain vigilant and ensure their vehicles are as secure as possible.
Detective Inspector Trudie Skeels says: "We have recently seen a slight increase in reported theft from lorries, however [recently] around 20 lorries were targeted in several locations. It happens when the drivers are asleep at night, parked up at either petrol stations or in lay-bys." DI Skeels adds: "In some cases three or four men, all wearing balaclavas, have approached the parked vehicles and slashed the curtains to gain access. Often the driver is not woken by this. They have then used a car to leave the scene."
Chrys Rampley, manager of security at the RHA, confirms that she has been approached by the police to help mount an operation using a decoy vehicle. She adds: "If there's an appetite and companies are interested then we will do it. Unfortunately,
you need evidence of a pattern you need to be fully confident of the success rate of catching someone." Pat Nicholson for the Professional Drivers Association says the closure of Alconbury truckstop at the end of August has fuelled the spate of truck-related crime: "Alconbury was secure, this is the thing. At Peterborough services there's no security at all. [And] by 5pm you don't stand a chance of getting in."
Within the last month police have recorded the following crimes:
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