A man whose Mercedes van was stolen in Norwich has issued a warning to other van owners to prevent them being victims of crime.
Earlier this year police urged motorists to be vigilant after 23 Mercedes Sprinter vans were stolen in the Great Yarmouth, Broadland, South Norfolk and King's Lynn areas since the start of the year.
In all 56 Mercedes Sprinter vans have been stolen in Norfolk and Suffolk since the start of the year, resulting in pleas from the police for van owners to
Now that plea is being repeated by Nick Flaxman after his Mercedes Sprinter van was stolen from the Avenues in the Golden Triangle area of Norwich.
Mr Flaxman, who works for SNAP account, said his works van would "stick out like a sore thumb" as the vehicle is white and red and heavily branded with the SNAP ACCOUNT logo.
The 35-year-old, who parked the van on The Avenues, near to where he lives, has put out leaflets close to where he lives in the hope of getting information about the theft - as well as warning others to be vigilant.
He said: "I've done it as a warning to anyone whose self employed or who has a van to be vigilant to prevent it happening to them.
"I'm employed by the company that I work for so it's an inconvenience to me rather than anything else but if you're self-employed..."
Mr Flaxman said he parked the van on The Avenues on the afternoon of Saturday, June 29th but found the vehicle had gone when he went to go to work on Monday, July 1.
He said he had a friend who goes running down the Avenues every Sunday and did not see the van parked there on June 30.
Despite having reported the theft to police and issuing leaflets about the incident to homes in the area, Mr Flaxman said he is yet to hear anything about the crime.
He added: "We're managing. I'm having to use my personal car to get to and from work now while on trips out to sites I'm using a loan van at the moment.
"It's quite fortunate I didn't have any equipment to be stolen as sometimes there is more than £20,000 of equipment on these vehicles."
A police spokesman confirmed they are investigating and urged anyone with information to contact PC Aaron Parker quoting crime reference 36/44774/19 on 101.
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