MODEL railways enthusiasts in Leamington fell victim to their own Great Train Robbery at the weekend.
The opening of the Leamington & Warwick Model Railway Society exhibition was delayed on Saturday morning following a break in at Royal Leamington Spa College on Warwick New Road where the event was being held.
The raiders made off with a considerable amount of new model railway stock belonging to one of the trade stands attending the exhibition.
The thieves cut their way through the perimeter fence before forcing entry to the building. Police believe the stolen items were loaded into building material cube bags and a larger section of the perimeter fence was then cut away to enable the bags to be dragged to a parked vehicle on a remote track running between the college grounds and the river.
A society spokesman said: “Members expressed concern that there have been a number of similar incidents across the country in the recent past but are pleased to report that on this occasion the intruders had not touched any of the models on display and no further damage or losses were reported.”
A spokesperson for the college said: “On Friday evening, thieves broke into Royal Leamington Spa College ahead of the Leamington & Warwick Model Railway Society exhibition and stole new model railway stock belonging to one of the trade stands.
“We are continuing to work closely with Warwickshire Police as they carry out their investigation.
“Despite the theft, the exhibition was eventually able to fully open to the public on Saturday and went ahead as planned on Sunday.”
Police are continuing investigations and are appealing to anyone who saw anything suspicious near the river bridge on Princes Drive or along the riverside footpath overnight on Friday or in the early hours of Saturday to contact them on 101 quoting incident number 87 of the 07/03/2020.
