A COLCHESTER PCSO waded through mud and nettles to recover a safe which had been stolen during a burglary.

Sarah Hardy and her colleague Lee Compton, from Colchester’s Community Policing Team, were alerted by an off-duty inspector who had made the discovery.

A safe had appeared to have been dumped under a bridge in North Lane, Marks Tey.

The pair made their way to the scene and found the safe, which had already been broken into.

It contained documents with an address on, and the officers were keen to get them back to the owner.

The surrounding area was boggy but PSCO Hardy made her way through the nettles to grab the safe.

A lot of the documents had fallen out of the safe but she recovered as much as she could and dried them out upon returning to the police station.

She said: “Although this is my job, I will do whatever it takes to see it through and try to get the best results.

“I was determined to get to this safe and the documents even if it had not been reported stolen.

“It clearly belonged to someone.”

After searching the systems at the police station, the pair found the safe had been reported stolen following a burglary in Suffolk last month.

A burglar had stolen jewellery and money from the safe, before dumping it in Marks Tey. The two PCSOs are working with the Suffolk Constabulary on the investigation to ensure the owner of the safe is reunited with it as quickly as possible.

Suffolk Police are appealing for information following the burglary, which took place in Kesgrave.

On Tuesday, July 18, at some point between 1pm and 4.30pm, burglars had forced their way into a house in Quebec Drive.

Suffolk Police would like to hear from anyone who may have seen any suspicious activity in Quebec Drive on July 18, or in the Roman River area near to the bridge in North Lane, Marks Tey at the beginning of August.

Anyone with any information should contact Ipswich CID on 101 quoting crime reference number 37/49315/17.