Thieves steal £19,000-worth of equipment from equestrian centre

An equestrian centre and riding school has been targeted by thieves who stole around £19,000-worth of equipment including power tools and a small ride-on vehicle.

Workshops at the Lands End Equestrian Centre in Whistley Green were broken into between the hours of 7:30pm on Friday, April 12 and 8:30am  on Saturday, April 13 with thieves helping themselves to a number of items before breaking a back fence and making their escape.

This is just the second time that the family-run livery and riding school has been broken into since its inception in 1959 leaving the owner, a recently-bereaved man in his 80s, shaken.

Daughter and centre manager Suzy Jones said the thoughtless crime has left them all baffled as to how it happened.

“We have CCTV on the yard but they have obviously been down before because they managed to miss all the cameras," she said.

“They also managed not to disturb the dogs who were in the house.

“It makes no sense so someone has done a lot of work I think. Plus, we’ve been flooded for so many months and they’ve even worked out how to get in when we’re surrounded by water. Our brain went to ‘it’s someone who knows us well’ but it can’t be an inside job because we are all family.”

Suzy is pleased to report that no other damage nor theft took place and that the animals are safe.

“The horses are ok. The tack is ok. Thankfully. As that was a big concern of ours.

“We’re also really worried about our dad because our he is 80 and has just lost his wife so the stress on him is huge. We all live on site and the break-in took place right next door to his home and that was the biggest concern. You hear of so many horror stories.”

The family has put out an appeal on social media, asking for neighbours on Lodge Road to check their doorbell cameras for any sightings of someone either riding or towing the quad bike in the early hours of Saturday morning.

They also notified the police, who have issued an appeal for more information which stated:

“We are investigating a burglary at Lands End Equestrian Centre in Whistley Mill Lane, Whistley Green.

“Sometime between 7.30pm on Friday (12/4) and 8.30am the following morning, offenders broke into several workshops and stole numerous items: a dark green Yamaha Grizzly quad bike, four chainsaws, a hedge cutter, a petrol disc cutter, a steel multi-tool, a set of snap-on sockets, a nail gun, and a snap-on diagnostic machine, worth around £19,000 in total.

“Anyone with information should call 101 or make a report on our website, quoting reference number 43240168760.

“Alternatively, provide information anonymously to independent charity Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or via its website.”