A member of the public has been thanked after helping police to foil the attempted theft of a cement mixer from a Gedney Hill building site.
The person, who has not been named, witnessed men attempting to load the mixer into a van at 10.18pm on Friday, March 26.
They took flight when the person challenged what they were doing, the cement mixer later being found having seemingly fallen out of the van, police said.
Within half an hour, a 39-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of attempted theft.
A Lincolnshire Police, spokesman said: “At 22.18 on the evening of Friday March 26, we received the call.
“A member of the public in Gedney Hill reported seeing a number of men attempting to load an orange cement mixer into a van.
“Suspicions were raised.
“This member of the public challenged the men who took off, apparently with little regard for the orange mixer which reportedly, well, fell off the back of a van.
“Within five minutes of receiving the call, officers were deployed.
“At 22.33, an Officer reported intelligence about a van he saw whilst on route to the scene.
“At 22.36 our officers were with the mixer which they found abandoned in the middle of the road.
“At 22.37, our staff made contact with the owners of the mixer. At 22.39, we found the van of interest.
“At 22.47, a 39-year-old man from Spalding was arrested on suspicion of attempt theft.
“By 23.30, the orange mixer was returned to its rightful place.
“The moral of the story – report your suspicions, we will do what we can from there.”
Spalding Inspector Nick Waters said, “Our sincere thanks go to the member of the public who acted swiftly in initiating this timeline of events that ended in the safe return of the orange mixer.”
