OPPORTUNIST thieves sped away with a chainsaw from an Owslebury landscape supplies business after they pretended to be a helping hand.

Two men drove into Greener Landscapes, in Thompsons Lane, at 12.14pm on Thursday last week and were welcomed by a member of staff in the office.

The pair were asked if they were from a pallet company used by the firm and within minutes were loading the wood onto their truck.

After the task was complete one of the men was seen to have walked into a barn on the site and walked out with Stihl Ms170 2011 model.

Director Lucy Green said: “We saw one of the men on CCTV walk out of the barn with a chainsaw in hand. We tried to run after them but they sped off.

“We rewound the CCTV and they had come in and gone into the barn for about five minutes before coming into our office.”

According to Ms Green the thieves had taken the number plates off their truck, so the business is unable to track down the vehicle.

Following the theft, a social media campaign was launched using CCTV from the incident in a bid to find the men responsible, with a Facebook post reaching 12,509 people.

“It was so opportunist, I do feel really cross that we have been done. The public support has been immense through Facebook.

“The social media power has been unbelievable. It had 115 shares and we have received names of these men.”

The names of the men have now been passed on to the police and it is hoped that an arrest will be made.

Luckily for the company the chainsaw that was stolen was on site for repair and does not work.

“We don’t normally keep machinery, we think they are opportunists that are looking for these handheld machines,” Ms Green added.

The company does not usually keep machinery on site as it is prime sales are landscape supplies, but it has lost out on money in the incident from the pallets which could have been sold.

A police spokesperson has described the suspects as white males, one aged in his late 20s to 30s who was wearing dark clothing with a Nike hoodie, with dark hair and thin build.

The second man is described as being in his late 30s to 40s, of a larger build, dressed in dark clothing including trainers with white marking and jeans. He was wearing a bobble hat.

If anyone has any information about the crime, call 101 quoting reference 44190447534. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.