The owner of a car dealership might have thought being located next to a police station would deter thieves, but apparently not.
Despite being situated adjacent to the local police station, the Five Star car garage in Formby, Merseyside was targeted in a raid by thieves, which also hit a nearby newsagent. The criminals stole four cars and keys to 20 other vehicles, according to the Liverpool Echo.
When obtaining a motor trade insurance quote, to help protect the company's assets against thefts like this, a car dealership's location will be taken into consideration. A nearby police station, one would hope, ought to lower the crime rate of the area and thus help cut the price of the business' insurance, but as this incident illustrates, a dealership must always take care to get robust cover for the stock it holds on its site.
Owner of the Five Star garage Alan Gabrielson said as well as the four stolen cars - which were worth a combined total of £26,000 - the firm would have to pay around £2,000 to change the locks on the 20 cars.
He said: “There were about four or five of them and they burst the doors open. There were four cars stolen off the forecourt, and keys in the safe have also been taken.
“They also took a beautiful framed photograph of Everton captain Phil Jagielka.
“One of the cars was tracked on Eastway in Maghull by a camera – our fear is that the cars are bound for a chop shop to be sold on as parts.”