A white van gang of professional thieves could be behind a spate of brazen high-value thefts across Fife and Tayside.
Graphic CCTV footage of one incident in Tayport shows a thief leaping from a white van before smashing a taxi window and grabbing the driver’s money bag.
And in the last week alone, four motorbikes have been stolen in two separate incidents in Kirriemuir and Bridgefoot.
Police believe that both incidents would have required a van to move the heavy bikes, with the pair taken from Bridgefoot valued at almost £5,000.
In Fife, on top of the Tayport incident, a flurry of high-value thefts has occurred over a similar period from vehicles across the north-east of the region, one of which saw a large number of high-value power tools being stolen from a van in Balmullo.
Police in Fife say that these incidents may potentially be linked to the gang that targeted Tayport, while Tayside said they would not discount the crime spree in Fife as being related to the big-ticket thefts north of the Tay.
Jim Davidson, owner of Univercity Transfers, said he was terrified after the theft from his taxi in Tayport and wanted to spread the word about the audacious thieves.
“I never normally leave my money bag in the car, but it had fallen on to the floor by the passenger seat and I completely forgot about it.
“The CCTV is quite scary. You can see them come down the street in the van and one of them jumps out.
“He has his hoody pulled up and a scarf over his face. He looks into the car, then seems to go away before coming back and breaking through the window.
“I was lucky I only had about £35 in the bag. But other people seem to have lost a lot more.
“I just want to make people aware that these professional crooks are going around and targeting people,” he added.
Police are now probing all the thefts and are not ruling out a possible link. Anyone who may have information about these thefts should contact Police Scotland on 101, or speak to any officer.