Cannock drinks wholesaler hit for third time as thieves snatch two vans and damage third

It is the third time in 15 months that the Cannock-based family-run enterprise Ales.R.Russ have been targeted by motor vehicle criminals.

In the latest incident police were called when a four-man gang broke into a locked compound and stole two white Peugeot goods vans shortly after 9.30pm on Monday.

Stuart Russell, of Ales.R.Russ, said: "It's been a nightmare. We've had vans stolen previously from our premises, so after the last time we made arrangements to park them in a more secure compound. They used cutters to break the locks on the gate, got into the vans and broke off the steering locks.

"They stole two of our vans and damaged a third but weren't able to take it.

"There was someone at the unit where the vans were parked at the time. He had popped in and locked the gates behind him. After a few minutes he heard the intruders attacking the gate and he phoned 999.

"To be fair to the police they came within a few minutes and were able to pursue one of the vans to the Wolverhampton area, but we were advised that they called off the pursuit on safety grounds.

"Luckily we have been able to hire some vans, but it's going to cost us a lot of money. Due to the previous thefts the insurance has gone up by an extra £3,000 and we're not looking forward to seeing our next bill.

"It will probably cost about £30,000 to replace these vans, the repair bill will be about £1,000 plus van hire fees. Even with insurance cover it is hitting us hard.

"We're only a small family business. When something like this happens it doesn't fill you with confidence. We've worked hard for 11 years to build up the business in a trade where pubs are disappearing, plus we've had the Covid lockdown.

"We were just getting back on our feet and felt we were recovering, now this."

Mr Russell said a decision was made to pay to park the vehicles in a secure compound after three vans were snatched from the company's Longford Road base in April last year. He said the stripped shell of one of the missing motors was eventually found in Darlaston, with the livery lettering painted over with grey paint.

This time family have been forced to hire vans to carry out customer deliveries.

A Staffordshire Police stated: "Police were called at 9.33pm on 29 August to reports that two vans had been stolen from an address on Delta Way, Longford Road, Cannock.

The two white Peugeot Boxer vans were stolen and a third van, of the same description, was damaged. The vans had blue writing on the side and back saying Ales.R.Us."

Witnesses with information should message the force via on Facebook or Twitter quoting incident number 758 of 29 August or phone Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.