Sleuths watch drivers
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• More haulage firms are using private investigators to trail and report on drivers suspected of theft, says the private eyes' professional association.
Firms use the sleuths to gather evidence before dismissing employees or calling in the police.
Peter Himes, spokesman of the Association of British Investigators, says: "We do get called in, particularly by companies distributing food stuff. What we do is follow their trucks and look out for unlawful drops.
"We have copies of the sched ule of delivery times and stops and look for ones that don't stick to it. After that we report back, and then go out again and try and get closer to hear if anything is being said."
But this service doesn't come cheap. Mr 'limes estimates that a week-long surveillance costs anything up to .0,000, so a lot of stock has to go missing before it becomes worthwhile calling the experts in.
He adds: "Every company expects an amount to be stolen. It is only when the amount going missing exceeds a certain level that we are called in."