Theft was kept secret claim

THE theft of an historic machine due to be put on permanent display in Warrington was kept secret for nearly three weeks, it has been claimed.
Campaigners at Stockton Heath, who wanted the machine put on show as a monument to the village’s industrial past, only learned of its disappearance when it was reported by Warrington-Worldwide on May 29.
But it had apparently gone missing from a site at Barton Dock, Trafford Park, on May 8.
Members of the Stockton Heath Alternative Residents’ Council (SHARC) are furious about the theft of the machine, which they had believed was being stored in a safe place, and over the delay in releasing information about its theft.
The machine – a billet cutter – was one of two which used to be on show at the Forge shopping centre in Stockton Heath, but were removed when the centre was refurbished.
They were originally used by Caldwell’s Stockton Heath Forge.
Peel Holdings, owners of the Manchester Ship Canal, took the billet cutter for safe storage. The other originally disappeared but was traced by members of SHARCs to a scrapyard in Liverpool. It was recovered and is now being stored by Caldwell’s at their Warrington works.
Last year, Peel Holdings were contacted over the lack of security at the Trafford Park site and indicated they would take steps to ensure the machine they were storing.
A SHARCs spokesperson said: “If they had let us know it had gone missing we might have been able to track it down like we did with the other machine.
“It is laughable that a small group of residents with no information whatsoever managed to track down, recover, buy back, transport and safely store one piece of history and yet a multi million pound company like Peels can’t manage to look after the other.”
It is believed the machine was taken to Liverpool for export. But with 200,000 tonnes of scrap metal awaiting export at the city it could not be traced.
The theft has been reported to police.
Pictured…the stolen machine at Trafford Park before it disappeared.