HUNDREDS of tyres have been stolen from a Yate depot in a second raid on the same company in six months.

Thieves stole 400 branded tyres from Malvern Tyres Ltd, on North Road, in the early hours of Monday morning.

Depot manager Neil Clatworthy told the Gazette he had discovered the break-in when he turned up for work later that morning.

"I drove in and saw that the gates were open," he said. "I saw what looked like rubbish all over the place and thought somebody had been fly-tipping.

"But it was furniture from a stolen removal lorry which had been emptied into our yard."

A R&J Removal Mercedes lorry, registration N766 NAY, was stolen from a trading estate in Brislington at around 2.40am the same day.

At 3.09am, thieves drove the stolen vehicle into the Yate tyre depot and emptied its contents, including furniture from the house of an elderly gentleman who had died recently. They then loaded 400 tyres, including makes such as Toyo, Uniroyal and Budget, into the lorry and drove away.

Said Mr Clatworthy: "It was a lot of our stock. I can’t put a price on it as it depends how much each tyre was sold on for.

"This is not the first time this has happened. Six months ago the same thing happened, when a lorry was stolen from Alexandra Workwear in Thornbury and clothes were left all over our yard and hundreds of tyres were stolen."

He added: "Monday was a complete write-off for us as we had to clear up and there were scenes of crime officers everywhere. It is a just a nightmare."

He said he doubted that the tyres would be recovered, despite the theft being captured on the firm’s CCTV cameras.

A police spokeswoman said: "Just after 3am thieves broke into a tyre depot in North Road, Yate.

"The stolen lorry was emptied of its load, which was dumped in the yard, and filled with almost 400 tyres.

"Anyone who knows where the van is now, who saw anything suspicious at the Bonville Trading Estate, Brislington or in North Road, Yate, or who has any other information which could help police Inquiries, is asked to contact South Gloucestershire Priority Crime Team on 0845 456 7000 or Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111."