A BUSINESSMAN has written to Prime Minister Theresa May to raise concerns about lack of police action after he claimed officers failed to attend to investigate a high value burglary.

Raiders are thought to have used cutting equipment to remove a padlock and get into a large metal container to steal tools and other equipment worth nearly £10,000 in a sophisticated break in.

But victim Andrew Mear said that two weeks after the burglary, police officers had not attended at the premises, in the village of Norwood Green, near Wyke.

Mr Mear sent a letter of complaint to the divisional commander at Calderdale Police, Chief Superintendent Dickie Whitehead, and followed it up with a letter to Mrs May.

Mr Mear, 39, runs a thriving family property business, with his two brothers. The company owns multi-million pounds worth of property across Yorkshire, including historic High Corn Mill at Skipton.

The company had suffered three previous burglaries in five years, after which they invested £2,000 on the secure steel container in which to keep their equipment.

His brother, Simon, discovered the burglary, on Saturday, August 20, and immediately alerted police via the 101 non-emergency number.

Andrew Mear said the intruders had used a nearby pub car park to gain access to fields and then cut a hole in a wood and wire fence in order to drive a vehicle across to the business premises.

Mr Mear said: “We kept everything of value in the container, the power tools, drills, circular saws, cement mixers; everything you can imagine to run a property business.

“It was a sophisticated burglary. It had clearly been planned. They knew where they wanted to go. They targeted the padlock, which was in a five-millimetre-thick steel box. They had come prepared to cut away all the steel around that. I imagine it would have taken some time and then probably another half hour to load everything out of there into a van. They even took the padlocks to hide the evidence.”

Mr Mear said it had taken eight phone calls to 101 to get the name of a police officer. “They were supposed to come and see us, but nobody has.

“There is also possible CCTV evidence from the pub. You would have thought somebody from the police would go and investigate. It is a sophisticated, high value burglary. You have got to act fast. But now any evidence will be lost and any items of value will have been sold on.”

In his letter to Mrs May, Mr Mear wrote: “Our recent burglary has seen very little action by the police, until I start complaining. This shouldn’t be the case, that I have to complain to be heard, or write to the chief of police, or even the Prime Minister. When I explain that the crime is serious, it should be noted as so and not be placed in a specific bracket or level of crime that is deemed unimportant because of its nature.”

Calder Valley MP Craig Whittaker said: “It is totally unacceptable that the local police force treats such crimes with such low priority. This is not the only complaint which I am aware of from businesses and individuals over the last six years, where people feel let down by the police and their individual complaints to the police are either ignored or brushed aside.

“If Mr Mear, or any other constituent, feels let down by our local police force, I am more than happy to take their individual cases directly to the Divisional Commander myself.”

Detective Chief Inspector Chris Gibson, of Halifax District Police, said: “Police have contacted the victim and have made arrangements to visit him and carry out CCTV inquiries this weekend.

“Officers are aware of his concerns and fully recognise the impact commercial burglaries can have on businesses and their owners.

“We have asked him to supply details of everything that was stolen, so inquiries can be made into the whereabouts of these items. Anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the Station Road area of Norwood Green between 4.30pm on 18 August and 8pm on 20 August is asked to contact PC McDonald at Halifax Police on 101, quoting crime reference 13160360487, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.”