BURGLARS stole and damaged equipment during a “senseless” raid at a Dorset fire station – which left a fire engine out of action.

Police are hunting people who broke in to the fire station in Ringwood Road, Ferndown, some time between 8.45am on Friday (April 11) and 9am the following morning.

PC Georgia Hedditch, of Dorset Police, said there was “damage caused and items of equipment stolen”.

“This senseless burglary has resulted in the fire service being deprived of a potentially life-saving asset, as the fire engine involved was left unable to be deployed due to the loss of equipment,” PC Hedditch added.

“We are determined to identify those involved in this incident and are carrying out a number of enquiries.

“I would urge anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity in the area of the fire station during the relevant timeframe – or who may have captured any relevant dashcam, home CCTV or doorbell camera footage – to please report it to us.”

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Area Manager Jason Moncrieff, from Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We are very saddened that this has happened at one of our fire stations.

“The impact was greater than the loss of two pieces of equipment, it meant the Ferndown crew were unavailable to attend incidents for much of Saturday, and we now have to use public money to buy replacement items.

“The offenders also damaged part of the fire station to get in, which has now been repaired, again at a cost to public funding.

“We would urge anyone with information about this crime to contact Dorset Police, so those responsible can be brought to justice.”

Anyone with information about the incident should contact Dorset Police via www.dorset.police.uk, or by calling 101, quoting incident number 55250051842. They can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously online at Crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling 0800 555 111.