thieves could have put lives at risk as they targeted Totnes fire station in an attempt to steal valuable lifesaving equipment.
The raiders did succeed in getting into the fire station at Brixham where they stole £50,000 worth of emergency equipment from two fire engines.
It is believed the thieves were only foiled in the Totnes raid because of a 3am fire alert which set alarms off at the Coronation Road complex and frightened them off.
But they still caused some £200 damage as they tried to force their way in through a rear door using some form of jemmy.
The thieves struck at both fire stations on Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning last week.
At Brixham the thieves stole equipment worth £25,000 from each of the fire engines based there.
They included a Webber hydraulic power unit, Webber cutting tool, a Webber hydraulic ram, a Webber hydraulic spreader, a Makita saw and a Webber combi tool. All of the equipment is used in emergencies – particularly at c... read on

Veale brothers storm to success at meeting

This weekend saw the beginning of the 2014 Devon county swimming championships, which will be held in their entirety at the Life Centre in Plymouth.
The competition couldn’t have got off to a better start for the Totnes swimming club members competing.
In the first event, the men’s 100 front crawl, brothers Kalon, 22, and Levin, 20, Veale put in solid heat swims to qualify for the championship and age group finals respectively. Levin’s swim of 54.03 was a new personal best and meant he only missed out on the championship final by 0.1sec.
Having qualified third-fastest for the final, Kalon produced a significant improvement from his heat time.
Leading from the gun he hung on into the last 25m of the race to take his first ever senior championship title in a time of 52.40. Levin contested the 16/over final but could not quite reproduce his morning swim, finishing eighth.
Sunday saw all three of the Veale men competing. The two boys were joined by dad Simon, 57, t... read on