A PIECE of plant machinery worth thousands of pounds was stolen recently from a road-works site.

The Takeuchi mini-excavator, valued at £25,000 and weighing 1.5 tonnes, was secured with a heavy chain and padlock at the junction of Headley Road and Tunbridge Crescent, Liphook. It went missing at around 3-30 am on Wednesday, September 8.

The theft comes just weeks after Hampshire Constabulary asked the public to be on the lookout for stolen plant machinery.

If efforts to stamp out the growing number of thefts from sites across Hampshire are to be successful, police say people must be watchful for pieces of equipment - such as diggers, generators and excavators - being transported at unusual times of the night. Since April 1 an estimated £1 million-worth of plant machinery has been stolen from sites across the county.

Almost all of the thefts have taken place overnight from construction sites, with fork-lifts and dumper trucks being among the items commonly taken.

Stealing machinery of this size would require large lorries and an organised group of criminals.

In an attempt to curb the rise in these thefts, police are urging building site managers to ensure premises and machinery are secure overnight, and to consider installing CCTV.