Thieves cut holes in storage units to steal 'irreplaceable' belongings

While scrolling through social media, Richard Thomas was shocked to see a photograph of his partner's children being shared on Facebook as part of an appeal following a break-in.

Thieves had cut through the back of 10 metal storage units on Langdon Road, Port Tennant, in Swansea, taking thousands of pounds worth of sentimental items.

The photograph was posted online to find the owners of items that had been left strewn on the road outside the units.

South Wales Police confirmed the break-in on the weekend of 31 January, while Pink Storage said customers had contents protection and claims were currently being reviewed.

"It was just a mess, boxes and personal items everywhere," said Thomas, from Neath.

"It was crazy, it was like someone had just gone in there and trashed the place.

"It's the stuff that matters the most, not necessarily the financial implication but the irreplaceable stuff."

He said many of the items stored were sentimental, including family photographs and childhood belongings.

It was days after the break-in he had seen the post on Facebook, and said this was the first he knew about it.

He left work straight away and went to the site with wife Bethan.

"The way they did it was by cutting holes out the back of the container… they've pulled the boxes through the holes and just discarded everything," he added.

"We still don't know exactly what's gone."

He described communication from Pink Storage as limited, saying he had not received an email sent to other victims.

"We feel like we're being treated substandard… they have absolutely no interest in talking to us," Thomas said.

Another victim, Anna Woodman, believes she lost thousands of pounds worth of items in total, including jewellery, heirlooms and sound equipment.

"I'm out thousands of pounds so far and that's from what I'm aware of," she said.

"Many items were smashed up and ruined as water and mud had got in after the break-in."

However, she said what has upset her more is the way the storage company has dealt with the situation.

"We were told there was CCTV and monitoring, but it felt like there was no real security at all," she said.

Woodman also said other companies have reached out and offered free storage, something Pink Storage has not done.

She added: "We were told we had to take out a protection scheme, but now many of us are asking what that really covers."

A Pink Storage spokesman said: "Our priority has been, and remains, supporting those impacted."

The operator added that 10 units had been broken into out of a total of 267 at the site, along with criminal damage to a number of other containers near the dock area.

It added that all affected customers had contents protection in place, with two claims already settled and payments issued within 48 hours, while others were being reviewed.

It said additional security measures had since been introduced, including increased monitoring, repairs and physical patrols.

Pink Storage also responded to claims of a lack of CCTV at the site, by saying: "In a separate incident not related to the break-in, South Wales Police removed the NVR (Network Video Recorder) that provides remote CCTV monitoring via [the company] DSOC."

The operator said it could not comment further on some issues while a police investigation remains ongoing, adding it was "committed to transparency" and would continue updating customers.

South Wales Police was asked to comment on the CCTV.

A spokesperson said: "A number of units have been affected. The total value of the items stolen has yet to be determined."

They added that an investigation is currently taking place.