BURGLARS have stolen fishing gear in Redditch in a haul worth nearly £7,000.

Specialist angling equipment was among property stolen from a garage at a house in Charlecote Close, Winyates.

It is being linked to another break-in at nearby Maxstoke Close in Matchborough, although nothing was taken there.

Both burglaries happened on Friday, April 19 and the one at Charlecote Close was in the daytime between 8.30am and 4.30pm.

Only the garage was entered, from which thieves stole a twin-pack of Makita cordless drills in blue and black and a Makita cordless jigsaw along with the angling equipment.

The fishing gear included a total of five Daiwa Infinity and Spod rods, five Shimano and Daiwa reels, four Delkim TX bite alarms and other equipment.

The combined value of the haul is £6,963.

Nothing was stolen from the property at Maxstoke Close which is undergoing refurbishment and was broken into between 7.30pm and 8pm.

Detective Constable Tom Birchley of Redditch CID said: “We want to hear from anyone who may have seen any suspicious daytime activity at Charlecote Close last Friday and in particular any vehicles parked there in unusual circumstances.

“The fishing equipment that has been stolen is quite specialised and I would urge anglers to pick up the phone and tell us if they are offered items like this at a bargain price or see them advertised and are suspicious about the seller.

“Although nothing was taken from the house at Maxstoke Close a fair bit of noise would have been caused during the break-in both at the front and back of the property. Please let us know if you saw or heard anything.”

Anyone with any information can call Redditch CID on 101, quoting the incident reference 523-S-190413, or Crimestoppers at 0800 555 111.