Come on - who was it?

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk:80/news/Bristol-thieves-steal-double-decker-bus/article-1464706-detail/article.html

Sleuth

i soory to hear about this i hope they do find the pikeys who did this

Ooooh dear, the inevitable and dreaded has happened. Not content with stealing parts from laid up and preserved buses, THE SCUM of our society has gone the whole hog. Most probably stolen to order, but not exactly easy to dispose of. Scrapyards and ports should be on full alert to a routemaster which certainly will by now NOT have the registration number and bonnet number it once did. HOWEVER, WE as owners of course know the other places where the real identity is marked forever, we need to bear in mind THE SCUM who stole the bus may well be forum readers so lets not be specific about what we know in order to avoid alerting THE SCUM to various markings which will identify the vehicle, and which could be obliterated. Are the owners asociation members?

Of course the possibility exists that the vehicle has been stolen to dismantle for high value parts, Landrover owners have lived with this reality for years. However while one can put a Range Rover in a container and export it very quickly, of course an RM cannot easily be hidden. Sadly though, the owners may get as much justice as they are prepared to pay for, searching for the vehicle will be expensive and time consuming.

Its a stark warning to all of us, don't take security for granted, Lock it, Immobilise it, or Loose it. Lets hope we never see another of our icons end this way. We can only hope for a happy ending and be vigilant. I notice the website "comments" on the article hardly took the matter seriously, just like the police.

The loss of one of these irreplaceable icons is very sad, one hopes it might be still complete and come to light.

Regardless of whether the bus had an MOT or not a theft is a theft and the reported lack of Police interest merits questions being asked of their senior officers.

IF the bus was stolen from a locked yard, then surely a burglary must have occurred? (as it was said to have been taken from a locked premises in the report)

No doubt with our surveillance state of 4 million CCTV cameras it must be on film somewhere and recorded on an ANPR database if it pulled into a garage to refuel or drove on a motorway?

The Police should do the detective work its what they are paid for. However, if they stop any RM trying to leave the country they may turn it up in the future.

We can only hope.

Hi All

I share the sentiments expressed above. It is a tragedy that there is so much crime. It is especially sad to see criminality enter the bus preservation world. The image we have of antique vehicle preservation is one in which people work together in a spirit of co-operation. Sadly, not everyone shares this halcyon view.

One of the issues is that the police in the UK don't seem to take crimes like this seriously. Home invasions (the US down-to-earth term by which breaking and entering is very graphically described) are not responded to whilst the police spend their time supposedly, 'responding to crime'. What has gone wrong? This must be challenged as otherwise hard-working people who pay their taxes end up as victims of the system that is purportedly provided for their protection.

As one of the earlier contributors to this thread noted, there must be surveillance video/other data which would show this vehicle being moved immediately after the theft taking place. The police should secure this. I am of the firm belief that if so-called low-level crime is dealt with then the perpetrators do not move on to more adventurous thefts such as this.

But, the bus preservation world is a community and eventually, this vehicle (or parts thereof) will surface.

Remember, most crime is committed by people who have some legitimate access to the target person/property. The perpetrators of this crime may be closer to the situation than previously thought.

Best wishes to the owners as they seek the recovery of their property in the face of official indifference. If I was them I would camp out at the local nick until some action was taken.

Thank you

John

Maybe we should consider installing Tracker devices on our buses?

It is sad that it has come to this, let us hope this bus theft was a one off and not someone organised with a waiting customer abroad.

Also possibly of interest, I heard of a company in Shropshire making fuel tank filler restrictors that prevent diesel syphoning, certainly another measure worth looking at to deter these lowlifes! I speak from experience as my GMC Army lorry was milked of about 20 gallons when it was in storage, I know who did it but difficult to prove.

It appears the "stolen" rm may not have been quite as it appeared...." a misunderstanding". Hmmm... At least the bus is safe.

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/crime/Stolen-Bristol-double-decker-bus/article-1471073-detail/article.html

A collective Phew..?

Was fearing the worst here for a while.....pile of ashes left sitting on a lay-bye stuff !!!

However this now appears to be a Ryanair style ending.....No such thing as Bad publicity-ALL publicity is GOOD Publicity ?

Next up...an appearance on Panorma !!