The CPA, the Construction Equipment Association (CEA) and CESAR donors and insurers are collectively contributing £650,000 to help fund the National Construction & Agriculture Theft Team (NCATT), which is tackling the theft of construction plant and equipment by organised criminal groups across Britain.

Police superintendent Andy Huddleston, who heads NCATT, said: “Just one example of what we do was the excellent work to identify a lorry load of stolen plant and through police contacts stop it before it was loaded onto a ferry to be taken out of the country late one night.

“Eight stolen machines were found, including six that were taken from an auction site in Yorkshire. This comes directly on the back of the funding given to us by the CPA, CEA, CESAR donors and insurers.”

He added: “The newly created NCATT is already making a huge difference in helping recover stolen plant which is becoming even more prevalent. In this calendar year up to April, we have successfully recovered stolen plant and equipment worth over £1.7m, and the total value of the unit’s recoveries in 2023 was over £6.1m.

“We are a small unit and whilst we can’t support every theft investigation, what we are able to do is making a tangible difference and I thank the industry for its crucial support in helping us do this.”

CPA president Brian Jones said: “It’s excellent news that our funding is helping lead to the recovery of stolen plant, which is a massive problem costing our industry huge amounts of money, stress and lost revenue. We have over 1,900 members at the CPA and we feel it’s very important that the membership funds go back towards helping them.

“Theft and fraud have a significant and increasingly damaging effect on our members’ businesses and our £90,000 contribution to the work of NCATT will bring immediate, tangible benefits to our members in preventing and detecting criminal activity and the recovery of illegally obtained plant-hire equipment.”