BURGLARS have targeted Walton Hall and Gardens twice in the space on a week.

Staff at Walton Gardens have been left unable to carry out maintenance work on the popular family hotspot after thieves broke in and stole gardening equipment on Thursday and Sunday nights.

The first burglary occurred between 8pm on Thursday, March 23, and 6.30am on Friday, March 24, with offenders breaking into a conservatory in the gardener’s yard and stealing gardening machinery.

Then, between 11.50pm on Sunday, March 26, and 12.45am on Monday, March 27, burglars climbed over a gate to access the gardener’s yard and stole a large quantity of gardening equipment.

Investigating officer police constable Jon Potter said: “Walton Gardens is a popular community park which is visited by hundreds of people on a daily basis, and these crimes will have a major impact on everyone who uses the facility.

“As a result of the actions taken by these thoughtless offenders, staff at Walton Gardens are now unable to undertake their duties maintaining and improving Walton Hall and Gardens for the benefit of the local community.

“We are currently following a number of lines of enquiry in relation to the incidents, including CCTV analysis and forensics.

“As part of these enquiries I’m keen to hear from anyone who believes they have any information that could assist with the investigation.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact Cheshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 139 of March 27, or to call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.