A stolen telehandler worth £40,000 has been discovered by police at a Rochford industrial estate after intelligence received in a special operation.

Essex Police officers with for the rural engagement team recovered the Manitou telehandler after spending two nights at Harwich International Port inspecting and searching more than 100 lorries waiting to board North Sea ferries.

After information gathered, police found the stolen vehicle at the industrial site on Monday - which had been taken from Great Braxted in 2020.  

Intelligence also led police to a van in Stock, which had been stolen from Basildon last month.

PC Joe McCarthy, of the rural engagement team, who led the operation, says: “We know stolen agricultural machinery and vehicles are exported to Europe through our ports, including Harwich.

“So we’ll be making regular visits to inspect and search lorries and their trailers for stolen vehicles and machinery.

“We gathered a lot of information and we’ll be following up a lot of leads in the coming weeks.

“We’ll also be getting the two vehicles we recovered forensically examined before returning them to their owners, which is always a nice thing to be able to do, particularly at Christmas. It was also great to recover vehicles stolen locally.

“The operation was also a success in other ways as we were able to provide drivers with crime prevention advice and reassurance about keeping themselves and their vehicles safe on long journeys.

“And it was good to work with NCATT and the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service, which provided us with intelligence in advance of the operation.”

No arrests have yet been made but police enquiries are ongoing