POLICE believe the rising price of metal is behind the theft of 800 cheese moulds from a West Dorset farm.

Thieves stole the stainless steel moulds from the Ashley Chase farming estate near Litton Cheney, with the haul believed to be worth up to £28,000.

Operations director Martin Crabb said the moulds were no longer in use and had been stored in the corner of a field.

He said he believed the thieves had made several trips to the farm over the weekend to collect the moulds and take them away.

The theft was discovered when staff arrived for work on Monday morning.

Mr Crabb, 43, said: “It looks like they have come in on a couple of occasions.

“You can see where they have dragged them across the field and loaded them into cars or vans and taken them away.”

Mr Crabb said the moulds ranged from around two or three inches in diameter and three inches tall to eighteen inches high and eighteen inches across and he estimated the average value of each mould to be between £30 and £35.

He said: “It’s not the loss of the bits and pieces that’s annoying, it’s the fact that nothing is safe.

“You spend hundreds of pounds on CCTV and things but there’s only so much you can protect. There is scrap metal lying around here and if somebody came and asked me for it I would be happy to give it to them but when stuff like this happens it is very frustrating. It is worrying someone is poking around here during the night and over the weekend.”

Mr Crabb said the site’s surveillance system had picked up some movement last Saturday night but there were no clear images of any of the offenders.

Inspector Les Fry of Dorchester Police said the theft of metal from rural areas is a continuing trend due to the high price of metal.

He urged other farm owners to be vigilant and urged any witnesses to contact PC Paul Bessell on 01305 222222.

Insp Fry said: “They would have needed a vehicle of some size to remove the metal and I would urge anyone who saw or heard anything to contact us.”