Shock as large gates stolen from rural entranceway

A woman who had her 20ft-wide gates stolen says she is "shocked and sickened" by the crime and has struggled to sleep since it happened.

Emma Marie Domachowski believes it would have taken at least four people to remove the £5,000 metal gates from her property in Little Eaton, Derbyshire.

"Total shock. Absolute shock. It's not the sort of thing you'd usually expect to go missing," she said.

Derbyshire Police are investigating the theft and officers said they welcomed any information from the public.

The gates in Moor Lane, which are made from galvanised steel with weatherproof timber bases, were installed in 2021 in response to a spate of fly-tipping on two acres of recreational land owned by the Domachowski family.

Edwin Domachowski had a heart attack several months ago so the area had become slightly overgrown.

A neighbour phoned his daughter, Ms Domachowski, at 21:30 BST on Monday evening to tell her the gates were missing and warn her that the gap left a valuable sit-down lawnmower exposed.

The same neighbour had passed the gates earlier at 15:30 BST giving the police an estimated window for the theft.

"Sadly we don't have insurance on the gates, as it never occurred to us that we'd need it there," explained Ms Domachowski, who is offering a £1,000 reward for information leading to their return.

Derbyshire Police said their investigation was continuing.

Follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.