THOUSANDS of pounds’ worth of specialist sight testing equipment was stolen when thieves raided a mobile optometrist’s car in Lymington.
Julie Benson’s Ford C-Max, which is marked with Specsavers insignia, was targeted outside her home in Old Farmhouse Mews, off Lower Buckland Road, during Sunday night.
The offenders escaped with around £6,000-£8,000 of gear, including a retina scope and an ophthalmoscope.
Her vehicle was among a number in the area broken into that night, with one car stolen. But the police are not currently linking the incidents.
Julie was alerted to the raid by a neighbor who woke her up by calling at her door on Monday morning.
She found all of the car doors open, the interior ransacked and the equipment taken from the boot.
“It’s not a very nice feeling,” she told the A&T.
“I spent the whole bank holiday traveling to areas across Hampshire to collect bits of equipment.
“I managed to get back out on the road because of the generosity of my colleagues.
“[The thieves] could have stopped me doing important work testing the eyes of vulnerable people who can’t get out themselves.”
Having heard her vehicle was among several targeted, Julie believed offenders traveled to Lymington specifically to commit the break-ins. She thanked one member of the public who handed in some of the stolen kit at Specsavers in Lymington High Street.
A Hampshire police spokesperson urged people to come forward to help find those responsible, or if they have useful CCTV footage.
Officers were also alerted to a vehicle stolen from outside an address in Broomfield Lane the same night.
This incident has been filed pending further information coming to light.
There were also reports of a number of vehicles having been broken into in Union Place in the early hours of Monday morning. But the force spokesperson said nothing was stolen in any of these incidents.
They added: “There is nothing to suggest at this time that these incidents are linked, but officers are keeping an open mind, should further information come to light.”
Anyone with information about the optometrist’s car raid should call 101, quoting reference 44220381430, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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