A Church Eaton funeral director is refusing to pay her council tax after she claims Staffordshire Police failed to take action when a trailer was stolen from her drive last week.
Amanda Hill, who lives in the village but runs Newport and District Funeral Services with her mother and a horse livery yard in Newport, described the police attitude towards solving the crime as “disgusting."
She says it was made especially so because the new Neighbourhood Inspector Carl Humphries had recently pledged to tackle the growing number of trailer thefts in the area.
Thieves smashed the gate, hitch lock and wheel clamp to steal the £3,500 horse trailer from her drive using a red four-wheel drive vehicle. A villager nearby witnessed the incident which was carried out by two middle-aged men.
Mrs Hill reported the theft to the police and was told to arrange to be at home on Sunday, with the witness, so that police could take a statement.
“I remained in my home all day. No one arrived and I was not even given the courtesy of a phone call to tell me no one would be calling.
“It is now Wednesday and I still await contact.
“I now intend to contact my council tax office and ask that I be excused paying the part of my taxes that go towards policing in Staffordshire.
“I am utterly disgusted by the behaviour of Staffordshire Constabulary.
“Until a few weeks ago my home was in Newport which comes under the West Mercia Constabulary.
“Twelve months ago the yard there was targeted. West Mercia acted very promptly and the thieves were caught.
“How can there be such a difference between the two constabularies?”
Mrs Hill said she knew of a second person in Church Eaton whose trailer was stolen the same week and who received no response from the police.
And Eccleshall landowner Simon McKnight told Inspector Humphries at last month’s meeting of Eccleshall Parish Council the police had seemed “uninterested” when he too reported a vehicle stolen.
A spokesperson for Staffordshire Police said: “We received a report of a theft of an Ivor Williams trailer from an address in Church Eaton at 5pm on May 1.
“This matter is taken very seriously and is currently being investigated by officers from both Staffordshire and West Mercia forces and we will be in contact with the owner of the trailer very shortly as our inquiries continue.”
