A brazen
ladder thief was caught on CCTV stealing four ladders from outside a DIY shop
in Grimsby in early April.  Crown Paints
posted a still from their CCTV on social media asking for help in catching
“hi-vis man”, as he has been dubbed. 
Hi-vis man was wearing all black, including a face mask, plus an eye
catching bright orange vest when he carried out the theft on an otherwise
uneventful Sunday.  The store wants to
get their ladders back safely and it is likely that the culprit will face
prosecution given the strength of the evidence they have.

Unfortunately,
the cost of living crisis is likely to send rates of shoplifting, burglary and
in-person robberies upwards as people turn to illegal means to get by.  Ladders are a pretty easy steal as evidenced
by the fact that hi-vis man stole four of them with nothing more than a
push-bike for transport, and they’re not easy to trace either.  Ladders look very much alike and they don’t
tend to be security marked, so there is little proof of ownership.  They are easy to sell on to unscrupulous
tradespeople looking for a bargain, or can be used to commit other crimes.

Those of you
who use ladders for work will appreciate that the theft of your equipment can
seriously mess up your work schedule, leaving you at least a day behind, and a
few hundred quid out of pocket while you wait for an insurance company to pay
out.  If your ladders are insured, your
policy provider may want to see proof that they were stored and locked away
correctly and there are all manner of hoops to jump through to get the pay-out
you need.  While Midland Ladders can
deliver to you the next day, it’s still more convenient not to have to replace
a stolen ladder in the first place.

Ideally
you’ll have somewhere indoors to store your professional ladders and don’t have
to leave them on a roof rack.  If you do
leave them outdoors, make sure you use a set of proper locking ladder clamps to
secure them to the vehicle.  A determined
thief equipped with bolt-cutters could still make off with them, but it will be
harder than if they’re only secured with a rope.  Do consider the effect of exposure to the
elements on your ladder – while an aluminium ladder isn’t going to rust in the
rain, they can still be damaged and will be more prone to freezing and thawing
issues causing weaknesses and cracks.

If you are
able to store your ladders indoors the best way is to use ladder brackets which
hang the ladder on its side.  This is
safer than leaving them leaning where they could topple over, or worse, become
a dangerous climbing frame for your children. 
It might be more effort to remove your ladders from the van and carry
them in every night, but if it’s a choice between doing that, and having the
hassle of reporting a theft, making an insurance claim and having to pay out
for a new ladder we know what we’d rather do.

If you do
find yourself in the unfortunate position of needing to replace a stolen ladder
we have such a wide range that you are sure to find an exact replacement, or
even an upgrade at a great price, that can be delivered to you the next
day.  We also sell ladder clamps and
storage brackets, so if you’re still leaving your ladders simply tied to a roof
rack, take action now before someone else takes your ladders.