Cambridgeshire theft forces firm to lay-off 40 staff
A Cambridgeshire firm says it has had to lay-off 40 staff after it was targeted by metal thieves.
A leek harvesting rig at the Nightlayer Leek Company in Chatteris was vandalised last week.
Les Edgley, who founded the company, said: "They will end up with £500 in scrap value, but it will cost us £30,000 to repair."
As well as the job losses, the company is having to buy in leeks from abroad to fulfil its orders.
Nightlayer owns three rigs and 40 people work on each.
The leeks are hand-picked in the fields.
They are then placed on the rigs, where they are graded, washed and packed.