A builders' merchant claims trade has taken a hit after about £3,000 of lead was stolen from its yard.

Burglars stole the lead from a storage container at Bolt Building Supplies on Halstead’s Bluebridge Industrial Estate, in Fifth Avenue.

Trevor Partridge, who manages the company’s timber sales, said: “Somebody cleared us out of all our rolls of lead.

“We have lost business in the meantime because we have had no stock whatsoever to supply the local builders with and it takes a while to get some more stock in."
 

The break-in happened overnight between March 4 and 5.