£9,500 Of Chocolate Stolen

27 September 2011, 13:09 | Updated: 27 September 2011, 13:11

Sweet-toothed thieves have stolen a haul of chocolate from an industrial park in Basildon.

At 10am on Monday, September 26, a suspect duped a lorry driver into unloading his goods at a different location as he pulled up at the Paycocke Road industrial estate.

A suspect entered the lorry, and directed him to another location nearby, where two other suspects were waiting and unloaded the goods onto another lorry.

An estimated £9,500 worth of Milka and Toblerone chocolate was stolen.

Insp Simon Gray said: "This was very large amount of chocolates that were stolen from a lorry driver who was conned into thinking that these suspects were legitimately helping him.

"The suspects will obviously try to sell on their haul, so if you notice a large amount of Milka or Toblerone chocolates being sold anywhere untoward, contact police immediately. It is also quite possible that they will offer the chocolate to businesses at discount prices, so if you are approached to buy such items, do the right thing and call us so we can catch those responsible.

"This was quite an organised set up, so we would also ask anyone that may know who is responsible to get in touch so they cannot prey on anyone else who is working hard to make a living."

The suspects were all white men. One was aged between 41-60, wearing a white long sleeved shirt, a yellow high-visibility vest and dark trousers. The second was aged between 21-40-years-old, black short hair, wearing a dark baseball cap, a dark t-shirt and dark three quarter length trousers. The third suspect was wearing a yellow high-visibility vest and blue jeans.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police at Pitsea police station on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.