St neots van driver reveals being used by thieves

St neots van driver reveals being used by thieves





A van driver has revealed the two second trick used by callous thieves to break into brand new Ford Transits.

Alan Hills, 26, from St Neots in Cambridge, recorded himself forcing the main lock of his vehicle after having £650 worth of power tools pinched from his work van.

Mr Hills is one of the latest to fall victim to the simple technique and has since heard of hundreds of other drivers who have been targeted in the same way.

He has criticised Ford's vehicle security and hopes he can encourage them to change the locks being fitted on new models.

Mr Hills said: 'All you need is a set of pliers and you can get into any brand new Ford van.

'When you pay £30,000 for a new vehicle, you expect it to be safe and secure so I want to get the message out there.

'I'm not trying to tell people who don't know about it how to break into a van, I'm trying to encourage drivers to get better locks fitted to stop it happening.'

Mr Hills, who is self-employed but is contracted to work for SafeStyle UK, left his home last Tuesday morning to find his 17-plate Transit van unlocked.



He soon realised the main driver's door lock had been broken and hundreds of pounds worth of tools had been taken from the back.

Mr Hills reported the theft to police and claims the 101 operator told him that every morning, they receive a huge number of calls reporting van theft.

But later that day, a colleague informed him of the easy way thieves are breaking into new Ford Transits - after finding a flaw in the security system.



By manually opening the only key-entry lock, the alarm is deactivated, making it even easier for thieves to go unnoticed.

Mr Hills' van video has been viewed more than two million times in the last week and shared by more than 21,000 people.

Carrying out a demonstration of how to access the van, he says: 'My van got broken into last night. Really easy, all it takes is this black key casing which goes on the outside.

'All they have done is pop that off, snap the black bit behind which leaves them with the key exposed.

'If not it takes two seconds, no noise.'

Mr Hills, from St Neots in Cambridgeshire, has reported the incident to Ford, urging them to up the security on brand new vans.



In a response sent back to him, a spokesperson for the motoring company said: 'As a manufacturer, we recognise the great effort thieves will go to, to ensure the continuing theft of vehicles and we understand this may be a source of concern to our customers.

'The issue is not unique to Ford and we work very closely with independent bodies such as The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and the Police, along with security companies in the motoring industry, to ensure the highest level of security for our vehicles.

'Alongside the police, we make every effort to ensure our customers understand the potential treats to the security of their vehicles from criminal gangs, and endeavour to develop preventative measures, wherever possible.'

Mr Hills is now waiting for his van to be repaired but he fears that once the lock has been fixed, he could be targeted again.

He said: 'I've only had my van for five weeks, it's from a completely new batch.

'I'm getting it fixed but they will just put the same lock back on.

'It's just going to say 'come and get me' to thieves and I worry that it will just be damaged again.

'You imagine when you lock your vehicle that it's going to be safe but while they're still fitting these locks, it just isn't the case.'