The district has seen a trend in batteries being stolen from industrial and agricultural vehicles as well as from electric fences.

Overnight on April 17 batteries worth £400 were pinched from a digger and dumper truck in Maldon Road, Goldhanger.

Thieves also made off with a £100 battery from Twitty Fee in Danbury between midday and 9.45pm on April 21.

Batteries were stolen from an electric fence at a property in Church Road, Little Baddow.

The goods, worth £300, were pinched overnight on April 15.

A £270 battery was also stolen from the same property overnight on April 20.

Thieves removed a £300 battery from a lorry on the Leigh Industrial Estate in Heybridge.

The theft took place overnight on April 18.

Sergeant Perry Land, of Maldon police, said: “If people want any crime prevention advice then they should contact their local neighbourhood policing team.”