'You feel violated': Exploring the dark world of tool theft
For many tradespeople, their tools are their livelihood.
But across Britain, thieves are turning vans and building sites into prime targets, fueling an underground economy where stolen power tools are being openly sold at boot sales with little fear of consequence.
ITV News has been investigating this growing crimewave – and the devastating emotional impact it is having on the workers at the sharp end of the crisis.
I explored the hidden mental health crisis linked to tool theft, which is impacting thousands of tradespeople across the UK.
Stephen Barker, a multi-trade from Hertfordshire, told me that he attempted to take his own life after £15,000 worth of his tools were stolen, leaving him unable to work and spiraling into debt.
'It's not just a tool – it's a whole way of putting bread on the table for our families, a whole way of buying school shoes for our kids, a whole way of taking families on holidays and making magical moments.
'People sit there and think 'oh it's just a drill', but that drill earns me money to do what I've got to do.
'So when it's taken you 14 years to build up all your gear…. within five minutes you're gone, everything you've worked for – gone.
'You feel violated, you feel worthless.'
According to the Tradespeople Against Tool Theft white paper by On The Tools, the scale of the mental health impact is alarming: 86% of tradespeople now worry about tool theft, up from 80% in 2022.
58% worry about it daily.
Every 21 minutes, tools are stolen across the country
Exclusive data obtained by Direct Line business insurance reveals the scale of the crisis: £40m worth of tools were stolen in 2024.
On average, a tool theft was reported to police every 21 minutes – amounting to 70 thefts per day.
25,525 tool thefts were reported in 2024, with nearly half – 12,414 thefts – coming from vehicles.
Despite a reported 18% fall in thefts last year, the crime remains a pressing concern.
Trades people told ITV News the decline could be due to some victims losing faith in the police, and simply not reporting the thefts.
A staggering 79% of tradespeople say they've been victims at some point in their careers, and 65% believe the problem is still getting worse.
It's not just opportunistic thieves at work.
My investigation uncovered evidence that rogue traders are using car boot sales to offload stolen tools in plain sight, often hiding valuable goods inside vans or under stalls. The lack of regulations makes car boot sales an ideal place to sell stolen goods, with cash transactions hard for the police to track. / Credit: ITV News
At Willow Farm Boot sale in Essex, I joined Metropolitan Police and Essex Police officers for an early morning raid: the two police forces' first attempt to work together to tackle the tool theft gangs.
Despite initially struggling to catch sellers red-handed – with many hiding tools in vehicles – the raid resulted in four arrests and the recovery of an estimated £50,000 worth of stolen power tools.
'It's a small win,' once of the officers on the raid told me.
'From the scale of it here, we are only just starting, and we will continue to do this.
'The message really is, get your tools marked – it will make it so much easier and quicker for us when we are having to go through with UV lights finding the owners.'
But the problem runs deeper.
I found similar stalls brazenly selling tools at Denham Farm, Vauxhall, and Hounslow boot sales – without a single police officer in sight.
Taking the fight to Westminster
Frustrated by what they see as years of political inaction, tradespeople took their anger directly to Westminster earlier this year. Tradespeople protesting outside the Houses of Parliament on February 3 2025. / Credit: ITV News
In February 2025, hundreds of tradespeople, led by campaign group Trades United, brought roads around Parliament to a standstill with a mass van rally, sounding horns and displaying banners like 'Hands off our vans' and 'No tools, no trade.'
Organiser Shoaib Awan said up to 500 tradespeople joined the demonstration, calling for tougher sentencing for tool thieves, stronger policing, and a crackdown on boot sales.
Shoaib has led the charge to bring more regulation at the boot sales.
He explained to ITV News that cheap prices make it easy to spot a suspected stolen tool. Shoaib holding a brand new suspected stolen tool, which retails at £399, and is being sold for £85. / Credit: ITV News
'How does that [tool] work out at £85 when a tradesperson like myself will go out into a shop and buy it for £400?'
'Why would they sell brand new?', he asks me.
'And why would they have two of them?'
The rampant tool theft has made tradespeople spend money on expensive security features and seen a rise in insurance premiums.
Tradespeople told ITV News that those costs are being passed on to customers.
A resolution at last?
Their message was finally heard at the highest level this week.
At Prime Minister's Questions, Amanda Martin, MP for Portsmouth North, directly challenged Keir Starmer to take urgent action.
'Tradespeople aren't just building Britain, they're holding our communities together,' she said.
'It's time we recognised the real cost of this crime and made the punishment fit the crime.'
Amanda Martin has become one of the most vocal MPs on the issue since attending the Westminster rally earlier this year and introducing the Theft of Tools of Trade (Sentencing) Bill, which will get its second reading in Parliament later this year.
In response, Keir Starmer – whose late father worked as a toolmaker – acknowledged the 'devastating impact' of tool theft, telling the Commons that his government would address the problem by: Investing £1.2bn extra into policing,
Introducing 13,000 new neighbourhood police officers,
Instructing the Justice Secretary to carefully consider Amanda Martin MP's proposed bill to toughen sentencing.
The Prime Minister admitted that tool theft can mean 'thousands of pounds of work lost, and with a huge impact to businesses and to families.'
For the tradespeople I spoke to, the fear is that unless boot sales face stricter checks, sentencing is strengthened, and police are given the powers to act swiftly, the tools of their trade will keep disappearing into the shadows —fueled by a crimewave hiding in plain sight.
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