MUSCLE-BOUND thieves lumbered off with more than £1,683 in loose change when they ripped two cash boxes from parking meters from a waterside car park in a New Forest marina.

The thieves attacked two parking meters in the car park near the Royal Lymington Yacht Club in the early hours of August 19, wrenching off the cash boxes.

They also tried their luck at a third cash box but failed, said a spokesperson from Hampshire Police.

"The offenders went into the car park and managed to remove the cash boxes from two of the meters. The first one was at 12.25pm and the other at 2.56am," she said.

"They tried to steal the cash box from a third machine but were unsuccessful. There is no CCTV in that car park so we have nothing to go on - no descriptions, nothing.

"But we are amazed at the amount stolen and the weight it must have been. We don't know how they did it."

The car park is council-run.

David Atwill, head of communications at New Forest District Council, said: "Yes, we can confirm that two of our metric machines were vandalised and their contents stolen in the Bath Road car park.

"These machines are regularly emptied and it was just unfortunate that these thieves struck at this time. For security reasons we cannot say how often they are emptied.

"The amount of money stolen just indicates how busy this car park is.

"There are no plans to change our security. These machines had their locks drilled out, which is not normal vandalism.

"We will of course be talking to our supplier to see if they can make these machines even more vandal proof."

If you can help police with their enquiries call 0845 045 4545.

First published: August 25, 2005