Skirlaugh Village - An East Riding of Yorkshire Village

Computer Equipment Stolen Again!

Residents in rural areas have been left without their mobile library's IT service after a fleet of vehicles was damaged. Burglars broke into a council compound at Skirlaugh, near Leven, and smashed their way into four travelling libraries. More than a dozen computers and eight flat-screen monitors, worth about £10,000, were stolen from the vehicles.
Although books were untouched, the theft of equipment prevents the well-used service offering East Riding villages a public IT connection.
Alan Moir, East Riding Council's library, museums and archives manager, said: "The public is now suffering because of this incident.
"For a lot of the areas we serve, this is a key service and people look forward to using it."
The theft took place at the Skirlaugh depot, off the main A165 road in the village, between 8.30pm on Friday and 7am on Monday.
The thieves broke through an 8ft wooden fence that surrounds the site, then smashed windows and ripped doors off the libraries, which were not alarmed.
Fourteen base unit PCs were taken, in addition to the flat screens.
It is thought the burglars may have used a car parked nearby to carry away the goods.
Although there was some disruption to the library schedule on Monday, when it was due to visit Hutton Cranswick, near Driffield, and Thorngumbald, near Hedon, and Tuesday morning, the service is now back on the road and vehicles are being reglazed.
Three of the units broken into were the council's award- winning new "travelling libraries", costing up to £95,000, which spend a number of hours each day in locations such as North Cave and Brandesburton, near Hornsea. These included one delivered just two weeks ago
A spokesman for Humberside Police said: "These libraries are depended on by residents and are a valuable community facility, not only in educational terms but also in social ways.
"The public can help us go some way to putting things right by helping catch those responsible."
Anyone with information about the incident should call Beverley police on (01482) 597886.