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Cash support for theft desk
Page 7
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• Theft-hit hauliers have been offered a crumb of comfort after the government promised additional funding for an industry crime-fighting body The National Stolen Lorry Load Desk (NSLLD), run by Essex police, helps to collate information from around the country in a bid to beat organised crime.
Only two years ago it was on the brink of closure due to a lack of funding, but now it has received government promises of £36,000 for the current financial year, rising to a ceiling of £50,000 the following year as long as the industry matches this funding.
The announcement of the cash boost came at a one-day conference organised by the Road Haulage Association to highlight the growing problem of truck thefts.
The NSLLD is jointly funded by the government and the industry with an annual income now in the region of £100,000, according to Roger King, chief executive of the RHA, which has itself contributed £5,000 this year.
He points out that the NSLLD plays a vital role in beating truck thieves: 'We need to invest in this exercise, however reluctant we might be to pay for what the government used to provide."
• It is estimated that so far this year some £45m worth of trucks and their loads have been stolen, with the final total ex pected to rise beyond 1100m.
One police force already benefiting from the desk's wipertise is North Yorkshire. Earlier this year curtainsiiiers parked on the Al were being targeted by thieves, with some 90 incidents reported in the first three mths of the year Following advice from PC lain McKinnon on the NSLLD and milaboration with several other forces, North Yorkshire pc lice focused their attention on the problem.
Four men, all from Knottingley, West Yorkshire, are due ft be sentenced for charges relating to thefts from truck ti 'Hers on 28 September.