Shropshire Land Rover owners fear thefts 'epidemic'

Detectives are exploring the possibility that the same thieves were responsible for stealing two Defenders within hours of one another this month.

And a Shropshire Land Rover fanatic, who has fallen victim to numerous thefts, today claimed the county was at the centre of a racket in which the vehicles are at risk.

Mark Phillips, 55, of Oakengates, who has owned the four-wheel-drives for the past 30 years, said the latest attack saw his headlights stolen in February.

Meanwhile, a red Defender worth £3,500 was taken from the driveway of a house in Red Lake, Ketley, between 7pm on May 6 and 8.45am on May 7. And another in dark blue was taken from Leebotwood at about 5.15pm on May 8.

The car was found dumped in Dorrington, but there was no sign of a brown and white springer spaniel named Rosie who had been in the back. Her owner Jim Thomas, who farms in Longnor, has launched an appeal to try to find her.

Mr Phillips said he believed there was a Land Rover theft epidemic in Shropshire due to the vehicle's popularity in the rural county and the demand for parts.

He said the older models were not as secure as newer cars and easy to strip down for parts within hours.

He said: "There's definitely an epidemic of it in Shropshire. It's been an ongoing problem for years and I think a lot of people know who is doing it.

"There must be thousands of Land Rovers in Shropshire because it's a rural county so there's the market and the opportunity.

"There's a ready market for off-roaders who regularly smash up the head lights and exhausts and are looking for cheap parts. My headlights were stolen in February and 18 months prior to that. I've sold it now because I heard as soon as you get new headlights, a couple of weeks later they come back and take the new ones. Headlights were £200 new and they were going for £30 to £40 on the internet."

"In about 2002 Land Rover did an upgrade and what happens is you could take the facelift model and you could take the headlights out and put them into an older vehicle to make it look new.

"I used to have a 1958 and there were no locks on it at all. But around 10 to 15 years ago the locking systems were not the greatest. Particularly with older Land Rovers you can just break in easily."

Chris Ammonds, of West Mercia Police, said: "We will clearly look at possible links between the two incidents but it's not an unusual vehicle to be stolen," he said.

"These sorts of vehicles are often quite good for replacement parts so it isn't necessarily linked."

Shropshire is not alone in Land Rover thefts - last month a West Yorkshire-wide operation to tackle the theft of 4x4 vehicle parts saw 14 people arrested.

A special task force executed warrants and searched nine premises in Bradford, Halifax and Huddersfield in April leading to the recovery of two stolen vehicles and a number of stolen parts from Range Rovers.

Operation Emporia was set up to combat an emerging issue with Land Rover and Range Rover vehicles being targeted by thieves, particularly for LED headlamps but also doors, mirrors, bonnets, wheels clusters and grills.

Anyone with information should call police on 101.