Couple's financial 'nightmare' over EV cable theft

A couple say the theft of their electric car charging cable has cost them hundreds of pounds, as homes and businesses are targeted in Worcestershire.

Criminals are cutting off the cables to sell for scrap, and West Mercia Police has said it is a "new and emerging crime".

Simon and Lisa Adams, from Kidderminster, said their electric vehicle (EV) cable had been taken last month and financially it had "hit them big time".

Chief Constable Richard Cooper urged people to report EV cable thefts and said it was important officers knew about it.

Mr Adams said he had been at a football match at Wembley on 14 April, the day of the theft.

He collected his wife from their son's house and they got home to find the cable had gone, but the theft had not been caught on their doorbell camera.

"We believe that they came down our neighbours' drive and then literally came across, snipped the cable and then disappeared into the sunset," he said.

He said the couple were now using public charge points, which was costing up to £50 a week, and looking at spending £1,000 on CCTV.

The insurance company initially refused to pay and then later agreed, but there had been a £100 excess, he added.

Mrs Adams said the aftermath had been a "nightmare" and the couple still had no facility to charge their car.

The weekend before thieves struck, Facebook users had been reporting cable thefts in Kidderminster, she said.

She is concerned the thieves will know the cable would be replaced and asked: "Are we a target? They've been once, will they come back and do it again?"

Speaking on BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester, Mr Cooper said neighbourhood teams had been "dishing out good, preventative advice", including removing and padlocking cables not in use.

He pledged to increase overnight patrols in areas where the crimes had been reported. "We might get lucky," he said.

The police chief added CCTV was worth having as a possible deterrent, and could also help investigations.

"It may be that someone's got a hoodie up and a cap on, but there's a bit of clothing that we can identify from the CCTV," he said. "If we think we've got a suspect, enough to arrest them, we will then conduct a search."

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