A Dunfermline tradesman has been left £2,000 out of pocket after thieves stole a toolkit from his van overnight.
Matthew Lewis, owner of CKD Wetrooms and Bathrooms, forgot to lock the vehicle on Tuesday night and discovered the tools were missing the following morning.
The Dewalt kit was taken from the van while it was parked at Hutchison Green in the Hospital Hill area of the city.
Matthew believes two youths seen hanging around in the area beforehand may have been involved.
He said: “I saw one of them go up to my van then go away.
“The next morning I went out and my toolkit was gone.
“They’ve obviously opened the door and then been off with my tools. I left it open, that’s my fault.
“This was quite late on, 11pm at least.”
Matthew relies on the tools for his livelihood – but has managed to borrow some in the meantime.
Locals offering up tools to borrow
He said: “If it wasn’t for kind friends, I’d have no way to work just now.
“It’s like taking your right arm away – you can’t work without it.
“After the tools were stolen, my son put something up on Facebook, and within minutes I was getting messages from people offering to let me borrow tools.
“The police are dealing with it now.
“We stay in a small community. Somebody will know something and I have my own suspicions too, but obviously I can’t say more than that.”
A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: “At around 8.50am on Wednesday, officers received a report of a theft of tools from a van on Hutchison Green, Dunfermline.
“Inquiries are at an early stage.”
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