A HANDYMAN is warning others to be vigilant after thieves stole thousands of pounds worth of his tools in broad daylight.
Zach Miller was working at Dorking Garden Centre in Reigate Road and when he returned to his vehicle in the car park he found it had been cleared out.
He said: "It was all the power tools, circular saws, electric plane saws, all sorts of things really.
"All they left was leads and a bag full of bolts and fixings.
"The van was locked up when I came back to it. There was no damage to the van. They must have had a master key or something. I have got no idea what happened."
Mr Miller, 43, of St Paul's Road West, scrolled through the centre's CCTV footage to look for clues following the theft, which he discovered at 3pm on Wednesday last week.
"I watched it but it doesn't focus very well on that part of the car park," he said.
"I ran through all the CCTV and at about 12.45pm it shows a white Citroen van pulling up and parking next to my van.
"It was there for four minutes and drove straight out. There were tyre marks next to my van."
Mr Miller fits bespoke staircases for a living and said the theft has affected his prospects.
"I use all of those tools for my livelihood, I have got jobs lined up for the next week," he said.
"I have had to spend more than £5,000 on buying replacement tools.
"If I had to replace everything from scratch it would cost about £20,000.
"Apparently, it has been happening quite a lot and Surrey Police are very keen to clamp down on it. I went over to the power tools and fixings centre in Horsham and they said it was the fifth or sixth incident that they had heard of in the last few weeks."
He added: "It's about letting other people know, because there are lots of tradesmen I know around Dorking who have got vans and tools in them and I worry for them. I don't expect to get my tools back but I need to raise awareness.
"It's hard enough to make a living without this kind of thing happening."
Anyone with information can call Surrey Police on 101.
