POLICE were left disappointed after following a lead about the whereabouts of expensive stolen equipment.

Officers from Cheshire Police’s Rural Crime Team headed to Runcorn yesterday, Friday, to search for the stolen gear valued at £15,000.

They followed a signal being emitted by a tracking device installed on the technology in the hopes of recovering it.

However, they discovered that the thieves had simply removed and dumped the tracker, with investigations remaining ongoing.

PC Moss, from the Rural Crime Team, said: “My extensive enquiries were thwarted in that they yielded no more than this little black box which I recovered in the Runcorn area.

“Utilising our recently installed tracking capability, I managed to pinpoint what I hoped to be a £15,000 item recently stolen from south Yorkshire.

“Unfortunately, on this occasion the tech guided me to only the actual removed tracker as pictured.

“Enquiries are ongoing, but the victim will at least be reunited with this £600 item.

“There are a myriad of security tactics to protect your valuable items, and multiple layers are better than relying on a single line of defence.”