A robbery gang targeted a car garage in West Lothian in a 'stolen to order' operation, making off with alloys and driving equipment worth thousands of pounds.
The masked and gloved thieves were captured on CCTV stealing from Hardie Recovery Services in Polbeth in the early hours of Monday, August 31.
Two groups involved in the raid
Footage showed the gang working in two groups, with youngsters in tracksuits arriving around midnight to scout the premises. A second group of masked men, wearing head torches and gloves, arrived two hours later and made off with unique gold alloys, BMW goods, and tools worth more than £7,000.
Garage boss William Hardie believes the organised crime gang were operating with a list of items stolen to order. The 34-year-old said: "I've been told a crew from Liverpool are coming up and targeting garages for theft-to-order jobs."
He added: "I'm on holiday for a family wedding in Cyprus. I think they knew and waited to target my garage while I was away. The first mob that turned up around midnight were all wearing Montirex tracksuits. The second group that arrived at 2am appear to be the professionals, wearing head torches and gloves."
Details of the stolen goods
Hardie described the gang's actions: "They were there for 40 minutes and came back close to 4am and filled up their car. They were obviously here for alloys and knew exactly what they were looking for. All in they left with three sets of alloys and ten mid-range Churchill tyres."
He noted the unique nature of some items: "I'm a professional drift car driver and one set of stolen alloys is a unique set that nobody else has. I imagine they will just be turned into scrap because they will be too hot to handle."
CCTV captures the operation
The CCTV shows a black Ford Focus arriving at the premises with the full beam on. It parks up at the rear of the yard, before hooded figures emerge wearing tracksuits and Nike trainers. One man immediately walks up to a vehicle and crouches down to inspect the alloy wheels, joined by another man who scouts out the car.
Later, a second gang of men appear. CCTV shows one man breaking into the garage premises with a set of bolt cutters. They are seen piling up stolen goods near an awaiting Ford Focus.
Hardie said: "They've stolen £7,000 worth of equipment from my garage. I'm a hard working guy. To have gangs sniffing around your business and robbing you in the middle of the night is disgusting."
Police Scotland have been contacted for comment.
