I want them to be more vigilant and make things as difficult as possible for these criminals who don't consider normal hard working people when carrying out these horrible crimes.

My van was broken into by way of the rear doors on my own drive, resulting in £3,000 of test equipment and hand tools being stolen.
I was surprised how easy it was to get into the van as it is only two-years-old.

I would advise all tradespeople to reverse vehicles onto driveways and remove all equipment overnight as nothing is safe any more.

I work very hard trying to deliver an honest, fair service to my customers.

I now have to find the money to replace the equipment to keep trading. The thing that makes me most mad is today was supposed to be a family day out which I had to cancel to sort all the repairs and police reports.

This is awful as I have no further time free until after the school holidays. It is a horrible experience and not the sort of thing I was expecting to happen on my own drive.

It can and does happen to anyone, so I would advise others not to make the mistakes I did. As for the criminals, I hope they suffer a horrible life as I am sure they feel no sympathy for my family and my business.

Mark Allison, of Auchinleck Close, Driffield, writes by email