AN ENGINEER has been left devastated after his tools were stolen from his van, costing him almost £3,000.

Ricky Rowlands, 34, of Cedar Road, Canvey, was woken in early in the morning by a neighbour, who spotted his van’s doors were open.

The thieves had forced their way into the van, which was parked outside his home overnight on Monday June 19.

The gas engineer said he was left feeling numb and didn’t want to work but decided he didn’t want to let the thieves win.

He said: “A neighbour who was on a night shift woke me up and I went out to have a look at my van. The driver’s door, a sliding side door and the back doors were open and there is some slight damage to the driver’s side door.

“I have no idea how they did it.

“They took different tools and equipment including my analyser, used to record fuel consumption, which cost about £1,800.

“There was also a grinder and electrical power tools taken in the incident.

“I went out to see if they had dumped the equipment and found my torch near a nearby lake, so I know they left on foot.

“The next day I had to spend about £400 on basic tools and equipment just to allow me to do my job.

“This is my job and these people have come and taken a large part of it away.”

He said this hasn’t happened to him since he moved to Essex from Wales.

The gas worker said he had locked the van, as it’s always his habit to do so.

Mr Rowlands said: “I will have to replace the tools as I need them for my jobs and it will come out of my wages for the next year.

“I am angry as it means some of the work I have done will cover this and therefore I haven’t made money on those jobs.”

His partner took to Facebook appealing for any information about the incident.

Essex Police were called at around 3.05am yesterday.

Anyone with any information should call 101 quoting incident 962006 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.