Matlock Canoe Club 'heartbroken' after storage break-in

Matlock Canoe Club were using the boats for beginner courses

A canoe club has been forced to cancel lessons after burglars broke into a storage container, stealing 10 boats.

Matlock Canoe Club, based at Matlock Bath, were left "heartbroken" by the theft.

Club secretary Donna Hawkins said that beginner equipment was taken during the afternoon of 5 July.

Offenders used an angle grinder to cut locks before taking items with a high resale value, she added.

Ms Hawkins said the break-in took place between 12:00 and 16:00 BST, just after a course had finished, leading her to believe that they may have been watched "for weeks" by the thieves.

"We were using 10 boats in the course, and they were the ones that were taken - they left three others," she said.

Other canoe clubs have offered equipment

She said the club had recently started its first beginner course in three years after recovering from a spate of floods.

In November 2019, their slalom gates were swept away and floodlights were ruined by high water levels.

Their recovery was hampered by Covid-19, but progress was made until more flooding hit in February 2022.

"We're just getting back on our feet and now this has happened. We're heartbroken," Ms Hawkins said

The club have been offered canoes from other local clubs to help them continue with courses and they are hoping to apply for a grant from Sport England to help them recover.

A Derbyshire Police spokeswoman said inquiries were ongoing and appealed for anyone with information to contact them.