DETERMINED thieves smashed a CCTV camera in a bid to stop police tracing them after stealing agricultural equipment worth £5,500 from a farm at Lockerley.

Police say the orange Kubota mini tractor and Rotovator were stolen from an open barn in a field at Butt’s Green during the weekend.

Officers say the stolen equipment was chained to a steel-fixing in the concrete floor of the barn. Fencing posts and wire were removed by the thieves as they made their getaway.

“We don’t know how they removed the tractor and Rotovator from the site but it would have taken at least three people to move it,” said a police spokesman.

Anyone with information about the theft, which happened between 4pm on Friday and 10am on Monday is asked to contact PC Stephen Edwards at Romsey Police Station on 101.