Security guards shaken after being threatened with weapons at East Lothian building site

Two security guards have been left shaken after being threatened with weapons during a break-in and theft at an East Lothian building site.
The East Linton building site was targeted on Sunday.The East Linton building site was targeted on Sunday.
The East Linton building site was targeted on Sunday.

Police are appealing for information following a housebreaking and robbery at a building site in East Linton on Sunday, 9 May.

Around 4.55pm, police were called after security officers were threatened by two men, one armed with a weapon, who had broken into portable cabins at a building site on Haddington Road and stolen a number of power tools.

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The security guards challenged the men as they attempted to leave the site with their haul but one of the thieves brandished a weapon at them before both ran off and got into a white transit van with a black and green Enterprise logo.

The first suspect is described as white, late 20s/early 30s, of skinny build, brown eyes, 5 ft 9 to 5 ft 10, plain dark face mask, black framed round glasses, wearing light grey jogging bottoms and gloves.

The second suspect is described as white, late 20s, wearing a grey/blue cap and dark clothing.

Detective Constable Stevie Neill, the officer investigating, issued an appeal for information on Monday as efforts got under way to trace the suspects.

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He said: “Thankfully the security guards were not injured but the fact that the suspects were willing to use violence to get what they wanted was very frightening for both men.

“The suspects knew what they were looking for and came prepared with the necessary equipment to get into the compound housing the portable cabins and steal the tools.

“The van they used was parked just outside the building site in a neighbouring field and the men carried the stolen tools to the vehicle. It’s possible they had been in the area for a while before security was alerted and so, I am appealing to anyone who was in the area between 2.30 pm and 5.30 pm and who saw a white Transit van with a black and green Enterprise logo on it in a field next to the site or anything suspicious about the behaviour of people at the site, to get in touch.”

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