A man left struggling to make ends meet after thieves stole £5,000 of tools from his van is warning people to be vigilant.

Eastern Daily Press: Jordan Huggins, a self employed roofer, has had his tools stolen from his van.Picture: ANTONY KELLYJordan Huggins, a self employed roofer, has had his tools stolen from his van.Picture: ANTONY KELLY (Image: Archant Norfolk 2016)

Self-employed roofer Jordan Huggins, 22, thought it would be safe to leave the items in his locked vehicle overnight as he lived in a quiet road in Costessey.

But when he went to go to work on Monday morning he found one of the windows smashed and all the tools had gone, leaving him with no way to make a living.

Mr Huggins said he had accumulated the tools over five years of working, and they were not insured.

He added that he would have to take out a loan to buy the basic kit, 'start from the bottom again' and warned others not to leave tools in their work vehicles.

'It's hard now I have to spend all my money on tools,' he said. 'I wouldn't want it to happen to anybody else.

'I've heard of it happening to people before, but it's so quiet here.

'It's one way in and out, and all the neighbours are quite vigilant.

'I just didn't expect it to happen, but this proves it can happen anywhere.'

He lives with his girlfriend Gabrielle Wilson, 20, and asked for his road name not to be printed.

The former Costessey High School student feared the incident would harm his business, as he could not work until he got new tools.

He has spent this week pricing up new jobs to use his time as productively as possible.

'I had two or three jobs booked for this week and I've had to let them down,' he said. 'It's giving me a bad reputation when I'd agreed them weeks ago.'

A Norfolk police spokesman confirmed a report of a theft from a red Ford Transit van at around 10.30pm on Sunday, where thieves smashed a rear window and stol tools from within.

Police are investigating.