Bizarre portable loo theft spate in Kettering and Wellingborough

A spate of portable loo thefts has been happening in Northamptonshire during lockdown.

Desperate thieves have been taking the portable toilets over recent months with day service provider Teamwork Trust in Kettering among those to be caught short.

Cllr Lesley Thurland exposed the thefts at the Kettering Town Forum meeting last night and police inspector Rob Offord confirmed the crime had become an issue over recent months.

Cllr Thurland said: “This isn’t a joke, but it seems there has been a spate of portable toilet thefts. I can’t believe your normal burglar on the off chance is going round and taking a loo, but one of those involved was the Teamwork Trust who can ill afford to get things stolen. Especially as they need it because of covid.”

Insp Offord said the thefts had been random and not carried out at any particular time, but that the nature of them being unattended and typically in dark places without CCTV, made it easier for them to be stolen.

He said: “It was found in Wellingborough back in August and months proceeding that there was a spate. All I can ask is the owners or people hiring them ensure there is some unique identification on them first of all that is overtly on display but can also be covertly put in – whether that is smart water. I’m not saying it is proper to microchip them, but they do it with caravans.”

He added: “The main thing is, if we seize a portable loo that is great, but if we can’t identify its owner, just saying it’s blue with a white top – you won’t be able to reconcile that back with the original owner, you will have to give it back to the suspect. Having some kind of identification that is covertly inside it would be really helpful.”

After the meeting Cllr Lesley Thurland said a number of Kettering councillors would be using their ward initiative funding to replace the £500 portable loo stolen from Teamwork Trust.