Thieves target leisure centre and steal car

Published on 8th November 2007 in News

Thieves have broken into lockers in the town's leisure centre for the second time in four months.

Last Tuesday, a locker was forced open and clothes, bank cards and car keys taken. Using the stolen keys, the thieves then took a car from the car park at between 3.25pm and 3.40pm.

The car was a mint-green Vauxhall Corsa, with the registration Y479 OMU.

The theft comes less than four months after a lifeguard at the leisure centre had her poolside locker broken into.

Her bag, containing her driving licence, mobile phone, purse and cash inside, bank cards and an iPod were all stolen, along with a prized t-shirt from a Sydney 2000 Olympic workshop.

There have been calls to increase security at the leisure centre, and install a barrier to make it impossible for people to enter without paying.

David Halkon, senior facility manager at the leisure centre, said crime like last Tuesday's incident was unusual.

He said: "Thefts at Goole Leisure Centre are extremely rare, especially when you consider that 350,000 to 400,000 people visit every year.

"We have CCTV on site and have fitted many of the lockers with alarms to act as a deterrent to thieves.

"We are now looking to further strengthen our lockers against a forced break-in, which is what happened on this occasion."

The East Riding of Yorkshire Council, who own the leisure centre, has also questioned whether the benefits of installing a turnstile system would justify the costs of installing it. They pointed out that it would not prevent entry by a paying customer or spectator.