Clock statue damaged by town centre metal thieves

The statue was damaged during the break-in

A statue celebrating Staveley's industrial heritage was damaged when thieves broke into a town centre construction site.

Thieves used a vehicle to smash through fencing around the market place site - which forms part of the Derbyshire town's multimillion-pound regeneration project - on 3 November, Chesterfield Borough Council said.

A clock statue commemorating the town's mining and engineering heritage was also knocked down and its bronze plaques were stolen.

Derbyshire Police said it was investigating the theft and no arrests had been made.

The borough council said copper was also stolen from the building site and an attempt was made to take power tools too.

It added CCTV footage appeared to show culprits tying a rope around the statue and using their vehicle to pull it over.

'Deeply upsetting'

Councillor Kate Sarvent, who is responsible for town centres at the authority, described the theft as "shocking".

"It has seriously damaged a local landmark which depicted Staveley's proud industrial history," she said.

"We would appreciate the public's help to locate the bronze plaques from the statue and catch those responsible."

Sarvent said the statue would be restored as part of the regeneration project but replicating the bronze plaques would be "very difficult".

Staveley became a centre for mining, steelworks and chemical manufacturing during the industrial revolution, led by the Staveley Coal and Iron Company.

Insp Josh Carter said damage to the statue was "deeply upsetting".

He added: "While we have a number of lines of inquiry in our investigation, we would be very keen to hear from anyone who witnessed the incident taking place - in particular anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage."