Belfast police catch pallet thieves and return items to business

Pallets stored in preparation for this year's bonfires.

Stephen Hamilton / Press Eye

Pallets stored in preparation for this year's bonfires.

By Jonathan Bell

July 17 2017 11:42 AM

Police in Belfast have been able to return pallets to a business after they were taken.

BBC broadcaster Stephen Nolan spotted PSNI Land Rovers and a patrol car in the Ormeau Avenue area on Sunday night. He said the officers were stacking the pallets into their vehicle.

"It just looked bizarre," he told listeners to his mid-morning Radio Ulster show.

About an hour ago, I watched two landrovers full of PSNI officers packing their vans with wooden pallets in Belfast. What's that all about!?
— Stephen Nolan (@StephenNolan) July 16, 2017

Police said they were acting after the theft of pallets in the area.

A statement said: "Police in south Belfast were called to the Ormeau Road last night, Sunday, July 16, following a report a number of young people had removed pallets from a commercial premises in the area.

"Police attended the scene and observed two young males with a number of pallets close to junction of Ormeau Road and Cromac Street. Police spoke with the two males and recorded their details. The pallets were removed from the youths and returned to the premises.

"Police enquiries into the incident are continuing."

The issue of pallets on bonfires has proved controversial. This year Belfast City Council was found to be holding pallets for a bonfire before they were stolen from a ratepayer-owned storage facility. The council is now investigating the matter. It was also revealed over recent weeks that blue pallets, branded with the logo of global manufacturer Chep are only ever rented from the company and remain the property of the firm.

William Young used a drone to take this remarkable photo of the bonfire at Sandy Row. 11/07/2017

The scene on Love Lane in Carrickfergus as the local community rebuild a bonfire after the original bonfire they build was burnt on Monday evening.
Picture by Matt Mackey / presseye.com 10/07/2017

Pacemaker Press Belfast 11-07-2017: Final preparations takes place for the Bonfire on Sandy Row in Belfast .The bonfires will be lit in loyalist areas as part of Eleventh Night celebrations on Tuesday night.
Picture By: Arthur Allison.

Pacemaker Press Belfast 11-07-2017: Final preparations take place for the Bonfire on Sandy Row in Belfast .The bonfires will be lit in loyalist areas as part of Eleventh Night celebrations on Tuesday night.
Picture By: Arthur Allison.

SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan posted this photo of one of his election posters on a bonfire and said he considers the action a hate crime.

Workmen board up windows of property beside a bonfire at the end of the Comber Greenway off Ravenscroft Avenue in east Belfast. [Photo: Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com]

Masked men continue to build a bonfire at Inverary Playing Fields in Belfast. Police in Northern Ireland have warned their resources could be stretched amid growing fears of tension around the burning of Eleventh night bonfires. [Photo credit: Liam McBurney/PA Wire]

Masked men continue to build a bonfire at Inverary Playing Fields in Belfast. [Photo: PA Wire 10/07/2017]

A bonfire constructed across the road from a petrol station in Carrickfergus was set alight in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

William Young used a drone to take this remarkable photo of the bonfire at Sandy Row. 11/07/2017

Sandy Row Photo: William Young

Roden Street Photo: William Young

Shankill Photo: William Young

The scene on Love Lane in Carrickfergus as the local community rebuild a bonfire after the original bonfire they build was burnt on Monday evening. Picture by Matt Mackey / presseye.com 10/07/2017

Pacemaker Press Belfast 11-07-2017: Final preparations takes place for the Bonfire on Sandy Row in Belfast .The bonfires will be lit in loyalist areas as part of Eleventh Night celebrations on Tuesday night. Picture By: Arthur Allison.

Pacemaker Press Belfast 11-07-2017: Final preparations take place for the Bonfire on Sandy Row in Belfast .The bonfires will be lit in loyalist areas as part of Eleventh Night celebrations on Tuesday night. Picture By: Arthur Allison.

SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan posted this photo of one of his election posters on a bonfire and said he considers the action a hate crime.

Workmen board up windows of property beside a bonfire at the end of the Comber Greenway off Ravenscroft Avenue in east Belfast. [Photo: Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com]

Masked men continue to build a bonfire at Inverary Playing Fields in Belfast. Police in Northern Ireland have warned their resources could be stretched amid growing fears of tension around the burning of Eleventh night bonfires. [Photo credit: Liam McBurney/PA Wire]

Masked men continue to build a bonfire at Inverary Playing Fields in Belfast. [Photo: PA Wire 10/07/2017]

A bonfire constructed across the road from a petrol station in Carrickfergus was set alight in the early hours of Tuesday morning.