Two Perth-based joiners have been left thousands of pounds out of pocket after a number of expensive tools were stolen.
A van owned by Nodwill Joiners was targeted on Friday and another van owned by Re Nu Joinery and Construction was later raided nearby on Tuesday.
Both incidents took place in the early hours of the morning and were caught on CCTV.
It is not known who carried out the thefts or whether the incidents are linked.
Footage captured by Nodwill Joiners, owned by locals Richard Scullin and Craig Willoughby, showed a man entering their van with ease just after 3am on Friday.
The man can be seen carrying goods out of the van to an unknown location out of view of the camera.
Richard, 45, co-owns the company with his brother-in-law Craig.
Richard said: “In the footage you can see the guy has got a scanner to open the van.
“He only went for the hand tools as they’re easier to carry and won’t make much noise.
“Nail guns can cost over £500 easily. In total, they stole over £3000 worth of tools.”
‘It’s affected our business’
He added: “You can see him going back and forward from the van, he might be parked somewhere nearby.
“He’s very, very quiet though. The camera picks up sound but we didn’t hear anything during the night.
“It has affected our business, we had to buy all new tools.
“This has happened before, about four or five years ago. That’s when we got the CCTV, and we’ve put even more security in the van now.”
William Russell, 54, who works for Re Nu Joinery and Construction suffered the second incident of theft in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
He said: “This is the first time in more than 35 years of working in this business that anything like this has happened to me.
“But it seems to be getting quite frequent in Perth.
‘I’ve got no idea how he got in’
“There were a couple vans before mine, and last year other joiners’ vans were broken into as well.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the same person.
“He was just so nonchalant – he walked around as though no one would touch him. I’ve got no idea how he got in.
“However we did notice our CCTV camera went blank around 1am for about a minute.”
He added: “That’s about £1500 worth of tools gone.
“It’s certainly affecting my business just now. It’s back to chapping nails in by hand.
“You build up all your tools over years and years just for some scumbag to decide they’re taking what they want and sauntering off into the night.
“He was 40 minutes wandering about up there and then he was back and forward to my van for about half an hour.”
‘You can’t sleep’
William said he has since moved the van during the night amid fears the Perth thief could return.
“You can’t sleep,” he said.
“You’re up wondering ‘will he come back’. It’s just the fact he’s been through your stuff as well.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 7.10am on Friday March 25 we received a report that access had been gained to and property stolen from a van on Strathview Terrace, Perth.
“Inquiries are ongoing.”
In reference to the second incident, the spokesperson said: “Around 7.35am on Tuesday March 29 we received a report that access had been gained to and property stolen from a van on Potterhill Gardens, Perth.
“Inquiries are at an early stage.”
