Stuart Evans left devastated after theft of large metal container in Alltami

Stuart Evans, 42, has lived in Flintshire for much of his life, but was left devastated after a metal storage unit was taken from the land he rents at Littlewood Cottages on Mold Road, Alltami.

The blue container, believed to be around 8 feet high, was filled with a number of both sentimental and valuable items which were placed there temporarily while Mr Evans underwent the sale of his house.

The metal container that was stolen from land in Alltami

But, on July 23rd, the dog-lover – who owns a Rottweiler cross Dogue de Bordeaux called Milo - found to his horror that the seemingly immovable storage unit had gone.

Speaking to the Leader, he said: “A friend of mine had gone to the piece of land I rent in Alltami to get an axle that I said would be somewhere outside the container.

“He kept telling me that it wasn’t there, so I drove there myself, and that’s when I realised that it was actually the container itself that wasn’t there.

“I was numb for two days because I couldn’t believe what had happened. I’m absolutely devastated because everything was in there, absolutely everything. My whole life has gone.”

Stuart Evans and his pet Milo

Mr Evans has rented a small piece of land on a farmer’s field in Alltami for the past 15 years which has specifically been for the large container.

That storage unit was filled several months ago with a number of belongings from the home he sold, including personal pictures, video cameras, childhood memories, memorabilia, and a number of power tools.

After speaking to a number of neighbours in the area, and to the owner of the land he rents, Mr Evans found that the container may have been taken earlier in the month with the thieves believed to have used a crane to mount the container on to a tractor.

He added: “The farmer I rent the land from was so apologetic to me. He said he’d seen a crane moving the container on July 6th while he was doing his hay bales but assumed it to have been me.

“He can’t remember much more than that, and neither can a couple of other residents from Littlewood Cottages who also saw a crane.”

A spokesperson for North Wales Police told the Leader: “The incident was reported on Tuesday (July 23rd) with work equipment and personal items inside the unit. Specialist officers are currently looking into it.”

Anyone with any information about the incident should contact North Wales Police by calling 101 and quoting the reference number: X104166.