New bungalow broken into and tools worth thousands are stolen

Jack Smith and his fiancé Emily Lovett are building their dream home in Sandown Road, Thundersley, but have now been hit by delays due to the break-in.

On Monday night, the newly fitted glass doors where smashed by thieves who stole all the tools inside.

The pair have been left devastated, but have vowed to continue building their dream two-bed bungalow.

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Emily said: “Jack has put so much hard work into getting this building where it is, and it is so unfair and upsetting that people think they can just break in and take what they want.”

Jack, 26, revealed the new glass doors had only been added a week ago.

He said: “They had smashed the rear bi-fold glass that had only been installed a week.

“I just woke up that morning to walk out and find it had been smashed and all my tools were missing but it is a dream of mine to build my own place, so even though it has put a bit of a downer on it, it won’t detracted me from building a home for me and my family.”

A spokesman for Essex Police said the force is investigating following reports of a burglary.

They said: “It happened at an address in Sandown Road between 8pm on Monday 7 March and 8.40am on Tuesday 8 March.

“Our enquiries are ongoing, and we need anyone who saw anything or has any CCTV, dash cam, mobile phone or doorbell footage to contact us.

“If you have any information, you can submit a report online at https://www.essex.police.uk or use the ‘Live Chat’ button to speak to an online operator between 7am-11pm.

“Please quote incident 210 of March 8.

“You can also call us on 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

Stolen items included a Milwaukee pack out tote bag, Milwaukee combi drill, Milwaukee hoover, Milwaukee angle grinder, three Milwaukee batteries, Dewalt sds drill, Dewalt laser level, extension lead, and a bag of hand tools, which all belonged to Jack.