Brazen thieves rob city coal merchants

A family-owned coal merchant in Springkerse was targeted by thieves who used machinery in the yards to load one of the firm’s trucks with goods to steal them.

Police are now probing the theft from D&J Imrie Coal Merchant, Meadowforth Road, of the 7.5 tonne truck and a quantity of red diesel, power tools, a power washer and an air compressor.

The crooks forced entry to the site and then used machinery to load up a spare truck that was sitting in the yard and escaped with the items, worth a fourfigure sum. Thieves raided the premises between 5pm Friday, October 11, and 11am Sunday, October 13.

The blue truck, a DAF LG weighing 7.5 tonnes, had the registration plates SN57 AKZ when it was stolen.

Ten large blue barrels containing red diesel, along with a quantity of tools, including a red power washer and black Jefferson make air compressor, were also stolen.

The business is owned by Gail and Graham Imrie. It was founded by Mr Imrie’s father more than 50 years ago.

Following the theft, Gail said: “You feel violated when something like this happens. Fortunately, it was a spare truck and it has been business as normal for us but there’s a big financial loss and the inconvenience of it all.”

Mrs Imrie suspects that the theft would have required some prior knowledge of what was on the site and how to use the machinery and has vowed to beef up security measures in light of the latest theft.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the police by calling 101 and quoting the reference number 1634 of October 14, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.