Two balaclava clad thieves stole around £1,500 worth of Makita power tools from a Droitwich tradesman during a late-night van raid.

The thieves struck at around 2.40am on Thursday morning, cutting through the reinforced door of his van to make off with the tools.

He managed to catch a full seven-minute video of the pair in action, who brazenly continued the break-in despite the presence of two cameras and security lights.

And the tradesman, who preferred not to be named, says he has been left almost £4000 out of pocket. 

"I have a full seven-minute video of them in action, from start to finish," he said.

"They stole about £1,500 worth of Makita power tools, the damage to the van is costing me £250 excess and I'm losing my no claims.

"I've had to take a few days off work as I'm waiting for tools to arrive and for the van to be made safe.

"So, all in all, not much change out of about £4,000."

A spate of van break-ins has swept across Worcester and Droitwich over the past few days.

Officers from West Mercia Police said they are carrying out patrols in the Dines Green and St John's area after several thefts.

Plenty of Droitwich residents took to social media to report that they'd also been struck by van thieves last night.

One resident reported seeing two men attempt to break into a car in the Westlands area at around 10.30pm last night before driving off in a white transit van.

West Mercia Police has asked people to remove any valuables, especially power tools, from their vehicles overnight.

If valuables cannot be removed, West Mercia Police is urging people to store them in secure containers, mark property using overt marking and fit extra-high security locks to vehicles.