Attempted cable theft shuts down Chertsey stores

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Attempted cable theft shuts down Chertsey stores

By Carl Gavaghan
December 13, 2010

BUSINESSES in Chertsey were left literally powerless on Saturday afternoon as an attempted cable theft cut electricity to much of the town.

Almost 1,000 properties were without power, with some?stores in Guildford Street?forced to close and others having to turn staff away on their busiest day of the year.?

UK Power Networks said there had been an attempted?cable theft in Staines Road.

Michelle Buck, who owns the Ladybird Cafe in Guildford Street, said business was booming?at the time the power went down.

She said: “Everything just went black.

“The cafe was jam-packed at the time and it was so disappointing to have to turn people away.

“In the end we had to close as we did not know how long the power would be down for. It cost me a lot of business.”

UK Power Networks said the incident occurred at around 1.15pm and that the damage caused during the attempted theft cut power to 933 customers.

Engineers restored electricity to 857 premises at 2pm and a further 71 at 3.16pm, but?five properties did not get their power back until after 9pm.

A spokesman for UK Power Networks said it was helping police investigate the attempted theft.

"We understand how difficult it is to be without power and would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused," he said.

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Brazen theft of van carrying Christmas lights

THIEVES who stole a van while its owner was putting up Cranleigh’s Christmas lights have been labelled as "absolutely bloody evil".

Chamber of trade president, Roger Coupe, blasted those responsible for taking Paul Fishlock’s vehicle?last Wednesday (November 17).

The thieves stole the black Vauxhall Mizano van at around 4.45pm from the side of the David Manns store in the High Street.

At the time Mr Fishlock was putting up the store’s lights with a colleague, and the vehicle had been left unlocked because they were returning to it every few minutes.

After installing the first set of lights at the shop, he went inside to explain that he could not put up a second?lot as the suppliers had sent the wrong ones.

“I was in there for five minutes and when I came out the van had gone. I couldn’t believe it,”?Mr Fishlock?said.

The van contained a large quantity of tools, valued at around ￡3,500, and some of the lights which had not yet been put up.

Police said witnesses had described seeing a small grey people carrier pulling up behind the van.

A man got out of the car and put on working boots, a high visibility jacket and a hard hat before getting into the?vehicle and driving off towards Guildford.

It was later found abandoned in the car park of the Volunteer Inn in Abinger Hammer.

Some of the tools were missing, along with competition motorbike clothing and equipment?- Mr Fishlock is a two-times European champion trials rider - bearing the name Paul's Building Services and those of his sponsors, Howden’s Joinery and Surrey Cycles.

The decorations had been left untouched, though?Mr Fishlock?was not able?get hold of?them until this week.

As a result, new lights had to be quickly obtained so there were no dark spots in the High Street for the switch-on ceremony by TV presenter Anthea Turner on Saturday (November 20).

Detective Constable Matt Evans said: “This unfortunate incident just goes to show that it only takes a matter of minutes for thieves to strike.

“Luckily the van and the lights have been recovered, but the victim is still out of pocket thanks to the theft of his tools. We are appealing for anyone with any information to come forward straightaway.”

Anyone who can help should contact DC Evans at Surrey Police on 0845 125 2222, quoting reference WV/10/6575. Alternatively, calls can be made anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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Theft hampers efforts to snap legendary big cat

A CAMERA positioned to capture the appearance of the legendary Surrey puma has itself disappeared this week.

The ￡300 device was put up?at the Wotton Estate on Saturday (October 23) by the Surrey representative of Big Cats in Britain, but by Wednesday it had gone.

Gary Ridley is offering a cash reward for anyone with information on how it disappeared from the White Down Lane area of Abinger Hammer and?which leads to its return.

He was keen to gather?photographic evidence of the presence of a big cat in the area after a report of a sighting from a train to the north of Dorking station in September.

A woman passenger on her way to work said she had seen a golden brown animal which “looked like a lioness but not as bulky".

The animal was said to be around two metres long and was seen from around 100m away, from the 7.02am train to London Waterloo.

She reported the animal looked like a skinny lioness or a puma, and it was said to be skulking low through a field of sheep. Other passengers had apparently not looked up from their newspapers and so they missed it.

The sighting came as no surprise to Mr Ridley, who had his camouflage bark-coloured camera specially imported from the USA to capture such moments.

He had positioned the specialist piece of equipment, which others will struggle to operate without a manual or expert knowledge, on a gatepost.

“It had only been out there for four nights,” he said. “It’s an area where this cat may well move through. This puma may well have come from the Kent area, from Tunbridge Wells.

“We are trying to establish where they are, but we need proof. It’s all hearsay. There have been lots and lots of sightings so we are desperate to get these cameras out there.

“We’re desperate to get this camera back. I’m appealing to people’s good side to help us get it back.”

Anyone with information or with a sighting to report should e-mail garyridley@hotmail.co.uk.

Mr Ridley said there were signs that big cats were out in the area, but proving it has been difficult because they are so elusive and people are sceptical.

“The amount of sightings that there are prove to us that there is a phenomenon going on,” he said.

“The government are not going to want people to know that there are big cats out there because it will lead to fear.

“Rotting carcasses have gone missing and there are a number of pictures, but they are grainy. We just want one picture, but they are so elusive and they are nocturnal.”

Reported sightings of mystery beasts in the area in the past decade have been made near Farnham as well as in Shamley Green, Worplesdon and Tadworth.

Such sightings have given birth to the popular legend of the Surrey puma, and Mr Ridley said his father-in-law had also seen one in Clandon Park.

“They are out there and they are breeding,” he insisted.

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