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‘Heartless’ thieves target sandbags as waters rise
“HEARTLESS” thieves who took sandbags from outside a Horncastle house have been told they could have caused thousands of pounds of damage.
Lindsay Hudson, who looks after premises in West Street, spent two hours last Wednesday afternoon filling sandbags and placing them outside the property which was at risk from flooding.
When she returned on Friday morning, all but two of the sandbags had been stolen, including one which was covering a particularly vulnerable air-brick.
Mrs Hudson told the News: “I couldn’t believe it when I saw what had happened. What sort of person does this? They must be completely heartless.
“They are only interested in themselves. It’s me, me, me. Don’t they realise the sandbags were put there for a reason.
“If the property had flooded, we could have been talking about thousands of pounds of damage.
“A lot of other properties close to West Street have flooded. We’re just lucky this one didn’t.”
Mrs Hudson drove over to Horncastle on Wednesday afternoon after warnings of possible flooding. She said she had to buy sand for the bags after being told the local authority had run out of supplies.
A neighbour helped her fill the bags and then haul them into position. With the threat of more flooding, she had considered sleeping at the property to deter further “thefts”.
Only last week, at least one business in the West and Bridge Street area claimed they had sandbags stolen at the height of the floods.
Mrs Hudson said she had not reported the matter to police who are often powerless to act in incidents of this nature because of various factors, including who actually owns the sand and the bags.
However, Horncastle’s crime reduction officer, PC Nic Hanson, said removing sandbags was a “selfish and morally reprehensible act.”
He added: “At times of adversity, when homes are at risk of flooding due to extreme weather conditions, we encourage communities to come together and look out for each other.
“The local authorities have taken steps to ensure that everyone in need is adequately catered for with the provision of sandbags and these can be collected from the rear of Stanhope Hall.
“It is a selfish and morally reprehensible act to remove sandbags from another person’s property and there is no need for anyone to behave in this way.”
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Weather for Horncastle
Sunday 19 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 10 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North
