A loo hire company could be forced to shell out £12,000 after thieves stole 13 toilets from its Oxfordshire depot.
“We’re not a big business – we’re family-run and only have around 75 employees,” Amy Philpot, 39, general manager of AndyLoos told Express.co.uk.
“It’s a big insurance claim that I’d rather not have to put through, and we’re worried that our five other depots around the UK could be hit too.”
CCTV cameras showed men using angle grinders to break into the site on Thorpe Way, Banbury, and make off with 13 loos between 6:30pm and 7:15pm on January 8.
The hooded thieves could be seen using trolleys to mount the toilets onto two waiting vehicles, while a third car kept a lookout nearby.
“Luckily it’s a quiet time of year for us and we have enough time to replace the equipment before things get busy, but it’s definitely got us worried,” Ms Philpot added. “I’d never heard of something like this happening before this week.”
The 39-year-old said she was working with police to track down the offenders but “didn’t have much hope” that they would be brought to justice or that the stolen goods would be returned.
She also speculated that the “seemingly planned” operation, the likes of which she’d never encountered in the industry before, could be the beginning of a spate of toilet thefts.
“They’ve turned up, they knew what they were doing, they knew what they were going for,” she added during an appearance on BBC Radio Oxford.
“It’s a risk of the trade. We have plastic toilets out in vulnerable areas. They could be on people’s driveways or in fields and you do lose the odd one. But to have your yard broken into is a bit more unheard of.”
“We’ve worked hard over the last 35 years [to] invest in our fleet and get toilets into depots,” she added. “We haven’t got them sat there for someone to take away. But somebody thought they’d come and help themselves. It’s not good.”
The Express has contacted Thames Valley Police for comment.
