Gardener says crime is forcing him to leave city

Toby Kennedy-Hall has had his van broken into eight times in three years

A landscape gardener who has had his van broken into eight times in the past three years has said that crime is forcing him to move out of Bristol.

Toby Kennedy-Hall, who parks his van outside his house in the city, said he had woken numerous times to find it forced open.

"The worst time they took £7,000 worth of tools and from then on nothing was left in the van and even now they still break in constantly," he said.

A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police said they were trying to address the problem.

In the eight years Mr Kennedy-Hall and his wife have lived in their current home, he said every vehicle they owned had been broken into at least once.

On one occasion their car window was smashed for a £5 vape pen that was left on the front seat.

Insp Terry Murphy said people should always report such incidents to the police

A recent Freedom of Information request submitted to Avon and Somerset Police found there were 516 recorded instances of thefts from vehicles in April in the area the force covers.

That is up from 445 in the same month last year. In 2024 an average of 15 such incidents were reported to police every day.

Mr Kennedy-Hall believes the police are either "unable or unwilling to fix the issue".

He said he no longer reports each break-in.

"When I had the £7,000 worth of tools taken I phoned them. They said they were going to come out, check neighbours' CCTV, check the van [but] no one came out," he said.

"They don't have enough people to deal with it and it's an everyday occurrence for them so they just don't seem to bother with it anymore."

Insp Terry Murphy, from Avon and Somerset Police, said: "Ultimately, all the time we are having to make tough decisions every day, prioritising what we have to do.

"That means sometimes people's trust and confidence in the police can be affected."

How can you protect your vehicle?

To help protect vehicles, especially work vans, police advise:

• Closing windows, locking up and setting the alarm every time you leave the vehicle

• Parking in busy areas with CCTV coverage whenever possible

• Parking with the doors to the cargo bay close against a wall

• Adding permanent marking or using recognised forensic marking or etching kits to make tools identifiable

• Keeping an up-to-date list of tools, including serial numbers

Criminals have tried various methods to access Mr Kennedy-Hall's van, including cutting out the locks

However, Insp Murphy said a government initiative known as the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which aims to strengthen relations between the police and communities, has seen nine new officers join his team, meaning they can prioritise vehicle crime more.

"I do think that investment in policing needs to improve," the chair of Avon and Somerset Police Federation Tom Gent said.

"We see police officers who want to be out there policing, dealing with crimes like that, and [we see] their frustrations and experience police officers leaving the service because they're frustrated because the haven't got enough time and support to go out and deal with those crimes."

Mr Kennedy-Hall said he planned to move out of Bristol.

"I won't stay in the city more than another year," he said.

"It's got to the point where it's ridiculous.

"I'd rather commute in and work that way, rather than staying where I am now."