Burglars escaped with £100,000 of computer equipment after a raid on Chelmsford Council offices.

They stole chips, hard-drives and memory units from the housing and engineering offices in Coval Lane, between 7pm and 8.30pm on Monday. Details of the raid have only just been released.

A council spokeswoman said no confidential information was stored on the stolen equipment but the raid had stopped some computers working.

She added: "We are working with the police to look at the area to see if there are any indications as to who it may have been, looking at our CCTV footage of outside the building."

"As far as the effects on the council, there were a number of people whose computers were not working, but we were able to keep the service going. We have a contingency plan."

Det Con John Vickers, of Chelmsford police, said: "Several members of the public phoned in to say they have seen people acting suspiciously and they are going to be interviewed in due course."

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