UK trade association the CPA has begun funding a specialist police unit – The National Construction and Agricultural Theft Team (NCATT) – to address the estimated £100 million worth of equipment stolen in the UK each year.
During the past couple of months, the NCATT has recovered agriculture and construction equipment, as well as disrupting organised criminal groups.
These successes have involved collaboration with various local police forces and their specialised units and assisted in identifying stolen equipment found in London.
Equipment recovered by the NCATT during May & June
CPA president Brian Jones said: “It’s excellent news that our funding is helping lead to the recovery of stolen plant, which is a massive problem costing our industry huge amounts of money, stress and lost revenue. We have over 1,900 members at the CPA and we feel it’s very important that the membership funds go back towards helping them.”
Stolen equipment on a trailer ready to leave the country
Police superintendent Andy Huddleston said: “Just one example of what we do was the excellent work to identify a truck load of stolen equipment and through police contacts stop it before it was loaded onto a ferry to be taken out of the country late one night. Eight stolen machines were found, including six that were taken from an auction site in Yorkshire. This comes directly on the back of the funding given to us by the CPA, CEA, CESAR donors and insurers.
NCATT was formed 1st January 2023 with CPA vowing to give £90,000 a year for three years to aid operations. Along with additional funding from Construction Equipment Association (CEA), anti-theft technology company Cesar, donors and insurers, £650,000 is being donated each year.
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