THOUSANDS of pounds worth of tools and fishing tackle has been stolen from vans.

Sussex Police are warning drivers to be on their guard following two incidents in Barcombe, near Lewes.

This morning the owner of a white combo van discovered his vehicle had been broken into in Munster Green overnight.

About £2,000 worth of carp fishing equipment was taken, including a Free Spirit CTX rod, Daiwa Crosscast reels, Delkim bite alarms and receiver and a Starbaits bed chair.

A green Vokswagen Transporter van parked in the High Street was also broken into between 2pm on October 22 and 9.30am on October 24.

Thieves took more than £600 worth of tools, including a Bosch drill and jigsaw and a Makita circular saw.

These items have been marked with the initials MM and would be identifiable if seen at boot fairs or on selling websites.

PC Daran Goudie said: "As the nights draw in, the opportunities for thieves to work under the cover of darkness increase, especially in the rural communities and I would urge people to be vigilant in keeping vehicles safe and secure and wherever possible to remove tools and other valuable items."

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 or report online via sussex.police.uk quoting serial 778 of 24/10 or 235 of 27/10.