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Canal boat stolen from marina

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Brazen thieves managed to steal a narrowboat from a marina despite a getaway speed of only five miles per hour. The £40,000 boat, Samshiba, was taken from the marina in London Road, Kegworth, and was last seen heading for Leicester. It is expected the boat is still somewhere in Leicestershire, based on the boat's top speed and the number of canal locks in the county. The 60ft vessel had been in the care of East Midlands Boat Services when it was taken in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Frank Hutchinson, one of the business partners at East Midlands Boat Services, which owns the Willows Moorings marina, said: "We've never had a whole boat taken from here in nearly 40 years. We've lost outboard engines and other bits before but this is a first. "It's crazy because the boat's only going to do a maximum of about five miles per hour. "And whichever direction they went with it there are locks on average once an hour. They take about 15 minutes to get through so the actual speed is more like walking pace. "The boat could probably only have got as far as Foxton but it hasn't been found yet. "There have been no sightings but there was fairly good information that it was heading towards Leicester, rather than north." Despite the very slow speed the boat is travelling, it could be very hard to find if it has been painted already or even hidden from sight. Frank said it was possible the thieves had planned to strip it for valuable materials. He said: "The worry is that it's been hidden in some backwater, in which cast it would be very hard to find without aerial surveillance of some kind. "And it could have been painted so it wouldn't be recognised." He said that although the boat was insured for the full £40,000 the theft was bad for business because customer confidence would be damaged. Photos of Samshiba have been circulated to boat owners and other marinas around the East Midlands in the hope Samshiba, which belongs to a man who lives in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, will show up. The theft has also been reported to Leicestershire Police. A police spokeswoman said: "A 60ft narrowboat, which is blue with a cream top and called Samshiba, was stolen between midnight and 10.20am on May 7. "The owner checked upstream and could not find it and the incident is being treated as a theft." Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the police on 101. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Canal boat stolen from marina


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