WHEN thieves cut the locks on Roy Strange’s allotment shed, they didn’t just take a couple of deckchairs.

They took a prize pot of freak tomato seeds from China that produce a pendulous yellow fruit you’ll never find on the greengrocers’ shelves.

Roy, 36, is the site supervisor at Churchward Allotments on Northern Road. The Pinehurst man has had a plot on the leafy Rodbourne site for around four years.

Thieves raided eight sheds in the early hours of Sunday morning. The men attempted to steal gardening implements and tools, including spades, hoes and a petrol strimmer.

Many of the items have since been recovered by police. But Roy hasn’t yet heard whether his blue pot of yellow tomato seeds – which were sent in error by supplier King Seeds – is among the recovered stash.

The carpenter said has now been forced to take a harder-line on security on his plot.

“I have put better staples on my shed door,” he said. The larger hasp and staples allow a stronger padlock to be fixed over the door – making it harder to force open the shed door.

Roy said he thought that the timing of the thefts – early on a Sunday morning – is a clue to the thieves’ motive.

“I believe they were going to take the tools to sell them at a car boot sale.”

He said that allotment-holders had been left shocked by the attacks: “They have been angry about it.

“But at least we stand a chance of getting the tools back.”

Dave Waldron, 72, had a mower taken during the raid. The pensioner, who has had an allotment for over two years, said: “New, that mower will probably have been worth £120. To replace it you’re going to be talking a hundred quid.

“All they were after was what was in the sheds.”

Owners of the broken-into sheds have replaced their locks. But Dave suggests that even Roy’s lock might not stop a determined thief.

“It’s a deterrent. That’s all it is.

“There are all these battery-powered tools on the market now. You could be through these locks easy-peasy."

Swindon Borough Council officers have told site supervisor Roy that they will replace the lock on the allotment’s gates.

Wiltshire Police said they were called by a member of the public at around 3.30am on Sunday, reporting that they had seen two men pushing a trolley full of garden tools close to the allotments.

When they arrived, the officers could see no sign of the two men.

However, they recovered a number of items near the allotment, including an electric lawnmower, petrol strimmer and hand tools.

Police are appealing for witnesses to the thefts. To report any information, call Wiltshire Police on 101 or anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111.