Thief in the dressing room

A sneak thief had a group of Stevenage Boro players crying foul on Friday. The thief nipped into the dressing room at the club s Boro Academy at Shephalbury Park where the players train and showed some sharp footwork when he made his escape with their bel

A sneak thief had a group of Stevenage Boro players crying foul on Friday.

The thief nipped into the dressing room at the club's Boro Academy at Shephalbury Park where the players train and showed some sharp footwork when he made his escape with their belongings.

At first the players thought someone was playing a joke on them when they found possession missing believing they had been hidden by team mates.

But it soon dawned on them that cash, wallets and an iPod had been swiped.

Police are now studying a CCTV picture of a man seen entering the dressing room which is also used by the public.

The victims were Hasim Deen, Steve Guppy, Tyron Sealey and Jon Nurse.

Deen lost £95 he was due to spend on a monthly season ticket he uses to get to Boro from his south London home; Guppy lost his wallet and a mobile phone, Nurse had two mobile phones and a wallet stolen and Sealey lost his iPod.

Some of the property was stolen from clothing and the rest from unlocked lockers.

"We will now lock the dressing rooms when the Boro players are here," said Academy manager Dawn Lawrence.

"We have a CCTV image of the person we believe is responsible for the thefts and hopefully he will be recognised."

Boro chief executive Bob Makin said: "Players should always take appropriate steps to make sure their personal belongings are OK.