THIEVES broke into a Dorchester coach yard and made off with 600 litres of fuel.

It was the second time in four months that Les Watts’s Coach House Travel premises at the Poundbury West Industrial Estate have been targeted.

And it is the latest in a string of similar thefts across West Dorset.

Mr Watts said the thieves entered through the rear of the property on Sunday night and siphoned off around 600 litres of diesel from five coaches and two service buses.

They also smashed the window of a car parked in the yard and damaged the vehicle as they attempted to force entry.

Mr Watts said he estimated the total cost to his business of the night-time raid would be around £900.

He said: “It’s just a major annoyance. The buses were full ready to go out on Monday morning and they had to be turned round and filled up again.

“It’s also the loss of money, and in these economic times it’s not good.”

Mr Watts said he assumed the thieves had spent some time transferring the fuel into smaller drums and loading up their vehicle.

He said the premises did have CCTV but it did not cover the area where they entered the property.

Mr Watts said he was hoping someone may have seen or noticed anything that could help police as they investigate the case.

He said: “They must have been a while doing it and must have made quite a lot of noise.”

Mr Watts said his premises had been hit around four months earlier, but on that occasion the thieves had been disturbed and had not taken as much fuel.

He said: “When it happened again you start thinking what else can you really do.”

Earlier this month police launched an initiative to install new alarms in heating fuel tanks in farms in West Dorset to combat a rising number of fuel thefts.

Inspector Les Fry, of Dorchester Police, said they were appealing for witnesses to the Coach House break-in as well as another case on the industrial estate at Burdens’ yard, in which 70 litres of fuel had been taken.

Anyone with information is asked to contact PC Sean Mallon on 01305 222222.