West Lothian crime: Thousands of pounds worth of tools stolen from van in residential street in Livingston

Tradesman ‘devastated’ by theft of tools

A hard-working tradesman has been left “devastated” after thousands of pounds worth of tools were stolen from his van in a residential street.

Thieves broke into the Ford Transit, which was parked in Meadowbank, Livingston, on Sunday night. But heating engineer John Robertson did not discover the theft until the following morning.

His wife Judith said: “My husband has worked so very hard all his life, but now the tools that he has worked to buy over the years have been stolen. He is totally devastated by this cruel act. He’s 64 now, so he’s been working for a long time. He said he’d be as well retiring now but he can’t because he doesn’t reach retirement age till he’s 66. So we’re in a position where he’ll have to buy them again.”

The van was broken into on Sunday night in Meadowbank, Livingston, and thousands of pounds worth of tools stolen

She said the break-in did not come to light until Monday morning. “My husband was up early and he was walking the dog when one of the neighbours said ‘Your van’s been tampered with’ and your heart just sinks. The tools they’ve taken are about £3,000 – that’s just what he can see has gone. So it could be more – it’ll only be when he goes to get something that he’ll realise it’s gone.”

And Mrs Robertson said there had been a spate of vans being targeted in the area. “So far I know of three vans that were robbed or there was an attempt to rob. It’s people’s livelihoods. We need help anyone – maybe people have either dash cams or ring door bells. They shouldn’t get away with this.

"I’ve also been on the phone to pawn shops and looking on Facebook marketplace. What was taken was DeWalt tools – hammer drill, grinder, auto-feed gun, reciprocating saw and the list goes on. So if anybody tries to sell you this, please say no.”

Sergeant Murray Legge of Police Scotland said: “Enquiries are ongoing following a report of a theft and an attempted theft from vans in the Meadowbank area of Livingston.“Around 6am on Monday, 6 May, we received a report of a van being broken into in the Meadowbank area of Livingston overnight and a number of power tools were taken.“Around 8.30am on Tuesday, 7 May, we received a report of an attempted break-in in the same street.

“Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 0496 of Monday, 6 May, and incident number 0641 of 7 May, 2024.”“We encourage vehicle owners to remember to keep all vehicles locked when unattended and remove all valuables or store them safely out of sight.”