Reward being offered after digger stolen
It was an audacious theft - a well-planned operation which resulted in the loss of a £25,000 digger for a hire company.
Thieves dressed in construction gear used a white van to make it appear they were turning up for work by the side of the road.
But now thousands of people have read the tale, seen the pictures, after the story spread from the Express & Star to other regional media.
And now the hire firm wants to capitalise on the exposure - offering a £5,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the Takeuchi three-ton mini excavator.
It was stolen from a car park at Turley's Office Furniture on New Hampton Road. It had been kept there by Stone Utilities, which had been carrying out gas main work.
It belonged to Mahmood Plant Hire, which had its brand marked on the side of the red and white digger.
Mick Aitken, operations manager for Stone Utilities, said: "I spoke to the owner of the plant hire company.
"What he said, with it all being over the media, the value of the machine will have come down.
"If we put up a reward, it may force the people to dump it."
He added: "The reward may also deter other people from doing this. We've seen a lot of these types of thefts recently."
Mr Aitken said a new digger had been acquired for the gas main work along Newhampton Road, which is expected to last 13 weeks.
He said: "We're back on site working as fast as we can to get the work done and minimise inconvenience."
The theft was caught on CCTV from Turley's Office Furniture, which were then given to the Express & Star by owner Philip Turley.
They show a van pulling up outside the car park, a man getting outside and breaking a padlock to the gates.
He then heads to the back of the car park, where he moves some cones and starts up the digger.
He drives the digger out of the car park, before turning on to the road, accompanied by the van which pulls up alongside.
It happened on Saturday morning at 11.22am.
Last night a West Midlands Police spokesman said: "I can confirm that we are investigating the theft of a digger from a yard on Newhampton Road West, Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton.
"The theft occurred between 4pm on Friday 12 May and 9am on Saturday 13 May."
The plant hire company offering the reward is asking people to call Scott McGreedy on 07583 466783.
Police are also appealing for information. Call 101 to report to police.
