Chainsaws, a hedge cutter and a leaf blower seized in Nettlestead have no known owner. Kent Police has published photos; quote 46/147648/26 if they are yours.

Police are trying to find the owner of chainsaws and other garden tools seized during a search in Nettlestead, a village about five miles south-west of Maidstone town centre.

Officers think the equipment may have been stolen in a theft nobody has reported yet. Kent Police has published photographs of the tools so that the owner can recognise them.

What was seized

Officers carrying out search warrants in Nettlestead at 2pm on 9 September took away a number of suspected stolen items. The force says they include:

  • chainsaws
  • a hedge cutter
  • a leaf blower

Kent Police says it has not been able to identify an owner for any of them.

If they might be yours

  • Look at the photographs on the Kent Police appeal page.
  • Call the west Kent appeals line on 01622 604100.
  • Quote reference 46/147648/26.

It is worth checking even if you have not noticed anything missing. Chainsaws and hedge cutters tend to sit in a shed or outbuilding for weeks between jobs. The force believes these items may be linked to a theft that has not been reported.

If you run a farm, a garden maintenance business or a tree surgery firm, check your kit against the photos. If you have serial numbers, receipts or your own photos of the kit, have them to hand when you call.

What it means for you

Autumn is when Kent Police expects rural theft to rise. Earlier this month its Rural Task Force warned that some crime types go up “when the evenings start to get darker and more farm equipment is in use”. That warning came with charges over a series of GPS thefts from tractors, including on farms around Maidstone, which we covered in our report on the farm GPS thefts.

The appeal does not say whether anyone has been arrested or charged in connection with the Nettlestead search.