A carpenter is appealing for help to find the crook who broke into his van and made off with nearly £2,000 worth of tools.

Sam Wager came out of his house in Webb Rise, Stevenage, at 6.30am last Monday to find some of his tools lying at the back of his van.

When he went to the back of the black Renault Trafic van he saw that the door had been forced open and most of his tool removed.

The 31-year-old said: “I’m really gutted. I’ve been working for 15 years and go out to earn my money.

“For someone to come along and steal my tools, probably for a quick fix, is incredibly frustrating.”

Sam’s hand tools and some of his power tools were found dumped in several bins along the road by binmen a short time later.

They also reported seeing a man go to one of the bins and make off with some power tools, including a nail gun.

Sam believes that the culprit lives in the Pin Green area and had stashed the tools so that he could return and pick them up later.

He said: “It’s obvious he was hiding them in the bins after stealing them, otherwise he’d have put them in a car and driven off.

“I think the chances are that he lives locally and I would ask anyone who saw anything to get in touch.”

Luckily the theft hasn’t stopped Sam from working, but losing the power tools has slowed him down.

The stolen items will cost him about £1,700 to replace and are not covered by his insurance.

“I’ll have to find the money from somewhere but the best thing would be for me to get my old tools back,” he said.

Police say the theft happened between 10pm on Sunday, June 28, and 6.30am the following morning.

The suspect is described as a white man with ginger hair and aged around 30.

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.