Break-ins wreck Sevenoaks nature reserve

KentOnline / KMTV

It's not the first time either - the Kent Wildlife Trust with a loss of £20,000 in damage and stolen items earlier this year too.   Daisy Paige reports.

Transcript

00:00A Kent wildlife charity is pleading for information following a break-in at their visitor centre

00:04in their Sevenoaks wildlife reserve.

00:07The thieves gained access by breaking a panel in the glass door, causing £1,500 worth of

00:12damage.

00:13Targeting the till, they also took £100 cash.

00:17Yeah, so this is the door that was broken into.

00:20It was that lower panel down there, they kicked that through and that's how they were able

00:25to access the visitor centre and so all of that was all captured on CCTV as well.

00:31Caught on camera is the suspects pulling into the car park before walking back to the building

00:36where the burglary took place, leaving the reserve at a loss.

00:40The main impact obviously as and when it happens is obviously the loss of income, needing to

00:46actually close the visitor centre for a period of time to rectify it, but then it's the long

00:51term impacts that we have in terms of insurance, you know, premiums going up, obviously having

00:56to make the claims for those, and it impacts how much work we can do around our reserves.

01:02Obviously when we've had equipment stolen in the past, it just means that then we're

01:06having to delay very important, vital works around our reserves.

01:10Kent Wildlife Trust have said they have increased their security to protect their reserve.

01:14Kent Police have said their officers are investigating a burglary at the nature reserve in Sevenoaks.

01:19It is reported the visitor centre in Brambourne Vale Road was broken into between 6pm on

01:24Tuesday 22nd October and 9am on Wednesday 23rd October 2024.

01:30This is not an isolated incident at the Sevenoaks Nature Reserve, earlier this year the container

01:35behind me was broken into and wildlife cameras and power tools were taken.

01:39Cutting a hole in the side of the container, the thieves caused £20,000 worth of damage.

01:45With the centre reopened and the doors repaired, visitors can come to enjoy the green spaces

01:50the reserve provides.

01:53Daisy Page for KMTV in Sevenoaks.

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