Van break-ins prompt police security warning
RESIDENTS of Knob Hall Lane in Southport say that the neglected, pothole-littered road is damaging their vehicles.
The holes have not been filled since 2017 and are growing ever bigger, which residents say now pose an increasing risk for traffic and pedestrians.
In addition to being a regularly used route for general through traffic, the unadopted Knob Hall Lane directly serves more than 130 homes.
Liberal Democrat councillor Pat Keith met a group of residents who showed her evidence of the damage caused’ including parts of a broken car suspension spring and its mountings which had been ripped from the underside of a vehicle by a pothole.
Cllr Keith said: “This is clear evidence of major damage occurring to vehicles hitting the many large potholes on Knob Hall Lane.
“If this is what happens to a car, I shudder to think of the potential consequences of a cyclist or mobility scooter user hitting one of these holes.”
Residents who pay council tax and general users of Knob Hall Lane Road feel that they are suffering the effects of a deadlock between legalities and highways maintenance leaving them in a no-man’s land.
One resident, Stephen Hesketh, said that he understood the tight budgetary constraints the government is placing on local authorities, and that the full adoption of Knob Hall Lane was unlikely to occur, but if Sefton returned to its historical position of maintaining the road in a safe condition, this would be a reasonable compromise.
He said: “It causes me great concern to see this damage was done to someone’s car on one of several stretches of the lane for which Sefton already hold funds deposited by the various builders towards the legal adoption of the road.
“These stretches are now falling into material decay due to the proper surface layer never being applied by the council.”
A spokesman for Sefton Council said: “As Knob Hall Lane is an unadopted road, we are not responsible for its upkeep.
“This has been clearly explained numerous times to ward councillors and residents.
“Ultimately any liability remains with the landowners.”
VAN drivers were warned to take extra safety measures after a spate of thefts around Southport.
Thieves have been targeting work vans in recent months and the problem appears to have increased in recent weeks, with incidents reported in areas including the town centre, Kew, High Park and Churchtown.
A video shared on social media of one incident showed a gang of men in a van pulling up onto a construction site in Kew before breaking into another van, clearing out the contents and leaving.
According to the person who shared the video, equipment worth about £1,000 was stolen.
In a separate attempted burglary days earlier, a Birkdale resident told the Visiter, a group of four men attempted to use power tools to break into a van parked outside a house before being disrupted by neighbours.
Last month, Carl
Wright, 41, a technician at RD Wright Property
Services, woke up to find the headlights and front grille of his Luton van missing.
It had been parked in a car park on the corner of Sussex Road and Ashley Road.
The dad-of-two said: “The headlights cost £500 each. They smashed the right window to get in, went straight for the bonnet hatch, popped the bonnet, got the grille off and took the headlights. I know a guy not far away in Crowland Street who had the front grille of his van taken off, too.
“It seems like an organised operation. To anyone who knows what they’re doing, it’s a quick job, and with mine they definitely knew what they were doing.”
Police have now issued advice to van owners, saying most of the thefts have occurred overnight.
A spokesman said: “Where the thefts have been reported, investigations continue however, there is clearly a need for the owners of commercial vehicles to take extra measures to secure tools and vehicles.
“We always advise that tools be removed from vehicles overnight and stored in a secure location. At the very least, ensure that all tools are marked with a property marking system such as Smartwater or Selecta DNA, to identify them as your own property. This helps the police to identify stolen tools found during searches or warrants executed.”
Police advice also stated that site managers should consider logging the registrations of vehicles which should be on site to prevent access from unauthorised people and that vehicles kept on-site should remain locked.
The spokesman added: “Vehicles and tools are a major investment for businesses. Please consider these steps to try and reduce the risk to your own vehicle and/or tools and ensure that all thefts are reported for investigation.”