Seven arrested after nitrous oxide hospital thefts
Seven people have been arrested after a spate of thefts of nitrous oxide cylinders from Staffordshire hospitals.
It follows an attempted burglary at Cannock Hospital at 1.30am yesterday.
A 47-year-old woman and six men between the ages of 20 and 39, all from the Norwich area, were arrested on suspicion of burglary when they were travelling in three vehicles in the Winson Green area of Birmingham.
Chief Inspector Sarah Wainwright, Commander for Cannock Chase District local policing team, said: “These arrests are a result of shared intelligence and collaborative working between Staffordshire Police and our colleagues at West Midlands Police, Norfolk Constabulary and the Central Motorway Police Group .
"We will continue to work alongside them as our investigation continues.”
Staffordshire Police have been investigating the theft of such cylinders after a series of incidents.
Three men wearing dark clothing forced entry into a storage room at Cannock Chase Hospital and stole 13 bottles of nitrous oxide at around 1.15am last Saturday. They escaped in a silver Peugeot 307.
A few days later on Wednesday, crooks forced entry into the storage room at Stafford's County Hospital and stole two gas cylinders containing oxygen at 1.35am. It followed another attempted burglary at around 12.30am on the same day.
