A HEREFORD business owner says his faith in police is now 'non-existent' after claiming officers said there was not enough evidence to investigate the theft of tools from his van.

Dale Morgan, who runs plumbing and heating firm Morgan and Cuss Ltd alongside colleague Jamie Cuss, discovered thieves had struck overnight last week.

But when he informed police that all the work vehicle's drills and electrical equipment had been stolen, he says he was told there was little that could be done.

He said: "I first became aware at roughly 8am on the Thursday morning when I got into the van to go to work. The side door was slightly open and when I looked inside I noticed all of our drills and electrical equipment had been taken.

"As you can imagine, going to work that day with a customer expecting you to carry out the work that’s been arranged for weeks in advance and telling them that we had to delay it until we got more kit was a massive inconvenience to us all. Especially as we are a new small company."

Despite obtaining his own CCTV footage, which is dark but does show a number of hooded individuals beside the van, he says he was told officers would not visit him because no damage had been caused to the van itself.

He said: "They told me to list down what had been taken and they would let me know if it turned up in the future.

"When I rang them later on to find out if there had been any progress and if they could do anything, the officer said 'well what do you want me to do about it? there’s no evidence'.

"It really did seem pointless ringing them, and felt like I was just an inconvenience to them.

"Even when I explained other vehicles in the area had been done recently and also Bartonsham Dairy’s last week he still didn’t seem to care.

"It concerns me that these people will strike again, knowing that the police won’t act. And my faith in the police is now non-existent."

In a statement, West Mercia Police confirmed they had received a report of a theft from a van in Vicarage Road in St James, Hereford.

"A quantity of power tools are understood to have been removed from the vehicle sometime between 5pm on Tuesday (October 31) and 8am the following morning," the statement said.

"Officers have conducted an investigation but there is insufficient evidence to proceed at this stage.

"If further evidence comes to light, the incident will be re-opened and investigated."

Anyone with information should call police on 101, with incident number 96S of November 1.