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WATCH: Thief trundles down busy Wolverhampton road in stolen £25k DIGGER

They turned up kitted in construction gear, inside a white van with flashing lights on top - nothing out of the ordinary at the site of roadworks.

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The digger is driven off into the distance

But what they did next was carry out a £25,000 theft, taking a digger from a secure car park while passers-by did not bat an eyelid.

These images show how the digger was even driven out of the site, on to Newhampton Road in Wolverhampton, followed closely by the van.

WATCH footage of the theft here:

The theft of the digger, a Takeuchi three-ton mini excavator, has meant ongoing gas main works, originally expected to last 13 weeks, have been delayed.

Work could not continue at the start of the week following the theft on Saturday, but was expected to resume tomorrow with arrival of a replacement digger.

"It is very frustrating hearing what has gone here," said Mick Aitken, operations manager for Stone Utilities, which is carrying out the work.

"And I'm afraid this has happened to us a few times now. We lost a three-tonne dumper in Wolverhampton a few weeks back, and a compressor in Rugeley before.

Philip Turley, from Turley's Office Furniture, holds the broken lock with contractors Paul McDonald, left, and Darren Atkinson, centre

"It is the same each time. Men turning up with fluorescent clothes, playing the part of worksmen, but then stealing.

"I don't know if this digger was for order - but the whole thing was organised."

The digger was stored in the car park of Turley's Office Furniture, which gave up a space in a bid to keep it safe.

It had been stored at the site for five weeks.

The roadworks on Newhampton Road West have been delayed as a result of the theft

Owner Philip Turley said: "We have two CCTV cameras which show exactly what happened.

"You can see the one man even driving outside with the digger.

"No-one passing thought anything of it."

The theft took place at 11.22am. It takes only minutes for the digger to be taken.

After the van pulls up outside the car park, a man gets outside and breaks a padlock to the gates.

He can then be seen heading to the back of the car park, where he moves some cones and starts up the digger.

Wolverhampton Digger Theft

He then drives the digger out of the car park, before turning on to the road, accompanied by the van which pulls up alongside.

The digger was hired by the contractors from S and C Plant Hire, which is based in Stoke-on-Trent.

Mr Aiken said: "The thefts are difficult to spot - but I'd say if you see workers at a site after 6pm or on a Saturday and Sunday, then that could be a theft.

"Report it, get it checked. But I realise how hard it is."