A man has described the 'shocking' moment when he had his truck stolen from his yard. Stephen Brierley, who has been running his coal business in Radord with his brother, said he left the truck for 15 minutes to break off for a coffee on Monday morning (October 3).
But when he got back at about 10.20am, his fully loaded coal lorry was nowhere to be found. It was later that day when his daughter Siobhan Brierley learned that the lorry was used ten hours later by thieves who smashed into two units in Measham, Leicestershire.
Ms Brierly, a healthcare assistant from Aspley, has described the series of events the led to her discovery. The 27-year-old added: "My dad was all set, ready to go. He just went in for a cup of coffee before.
"His brother was not there when it all happened. When he came out to get his truck it just disappeared.
"We called the police straight away", she added. "And then, we obviously put it on social media to try and raise awareness to see if anybody has seen it.
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"That night, I had someone who phoned me and told me that their units were ram-raided by the lorry. And then they sent us the CCTV which shows exactly what happened."
She said she is "heartbroken" for her dad who has been a coalman for 45 years, and is now raising money to get the business back on its feet. "It is getting colder and colder", she added. "People want coal, and fuel. My dad delivers to 70 or 80 homes a week.
"With Covid and everything that went on, my dad's business just started to pick up again. He is absolutely destroyed."
Mr Brierley, 59, said he is "still in shock" after the incident. He added: "It has impacted the business massively. We have got another vehicle that we can use, but that one was for another job.
"The business finally started to pick up again so it is a shame. It is a difficult time for businesses anyway.
"It has a knock-on effect really. It is not just me that has been affected by it - but the two units in Leicestershire as well.
"It is like a thoughtless behaviour that is affecting a lot of people. I am still in a big shock."
The truck was all loaded, ready to go before the incident. A full list of all the clients that he was due to deliver the coal to was also in the lorry.
"I cannot remember all the clients that I had to deliver the coal to", he added. "So then I got calls from people who were waiting for it.
"It was my grandfather who started the business, in 1956. We have got some loyal customers who have been very understanding.
"I think that is one good thing that came out of it - all the support and kind messages from people. But unfortunately this incident has affected many, many people."
A Nottinghamshire Police spokesman said: “We have launched an investigation after it was reported a transit van containing sacks of coal was stolen from a coal yard in Medway Street, Radford, on Monday (3 October 2022). As a force, we treat all reports of theft we receive extremely seriously and we are reviewing all available CCTV.
“If anyone has any information relating to this theft that could aid our investigation, we’d ask that they call us on 101, quoting incident 227 of 3 October 2022.”
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