A few months a go we had our wheelie bin stolen. It happened on a Sunday when we were still at home the only thing I can remember happening on that day is a girl asking us if we would like to sponsor a dog, although I am rather fond of dogs I had to decline because I couldn't understand what the girl was saying and what she was saying just didn't seem right. I really didn't give it much though, I was tired and Sunday was my lying in day. It was not until later when I went to take the rubbish outside that I noticed the bin had gone, confused I looked for it walking about the whole neighborhood looking at peoples bins and getting some rather odd looks that evening.

Now I'm not sure if the girl was involved with the theft of the bin but it all seemed far to coincidental, however I never saw her again in order to ask her if she had noticed it there when she had knocked on the door. Anyway I phoned the police who took everything rather seriously they even gave me a crime number I could give to the council to get a new bin they would also phone back to take a full statement. I couldn't understand why the chap I spoke to on the phone just couldn't take down the details. Anyway I got a crime report letter and a leaflet on how to cope being a victim of crime (sounds funny for a bin theft I know). My wife phoned the council and they said we would have to spend 53 pounds for a new bin because it was not stolen on bin collection day (I should really have told the thieves to steel my bin on bin day! (heavy sarcasm)). We had no choice but to agree to the charge which I found would not be covered by my household insurance as there was an excess. We waited 2 weeks for a new bin, and eventually phoned the council when one did not arrive. The council said the bin had been delivered, we informed then that since the theft we had placed a small motion detection camera looking out of the front of the house (will blog more about this later) and did not see any one approach the house on the date and time they said they had delivered it. Eventually the council agreed to send another free bin which arrived and my wife and I promptly set about covering every inch of the bin with our house number and post code. I then installed a large chain and padlock which I used to fasten the bin to the wall. The inconvenience of not having a bin was far to much for me and prevention was the best possible option. Nothing happened for some time until Friday when my wife returned home to find someone had tried to drag the bin out from the little dip it was in by the side of the house had then tried pulling the chain around, discovered a big lock on the end and decided to leave it. The thing that frustrated me the most was I had not had the camera on that day, of all the days it was the one day I had forgotten to turn it on, however the big chain had served its purpose.

Now many thoughts had rushed through my mind:

• Why were these thieves so fascinated by my bin? I could understand the first opportunity theft but a second from the same place?
• Why hadn't they taken another bin maybe one from any of the other houses in the neighborhood that were far easier to get to than ours and some of them didn't have any identification on them.
• Was this some conspiracy by the people who sold bins to the council to make more money?

Having had a look on the net I realized this could be something to do with identity fraud via wheelie bin where they steel your bin go through it to find any identity documents so they can steel your identity or find an opportune moment to rob your house which we later discovered happened to someone else in the neighborhood. They stole his bin used the rubbish to work out where they worked and when they were likely to be home then came to the house with a white lorry one day knocked the door in and proceeded to clear out the house as though they were removal men, what a cheek!

Now the only thing I can do now is wait and see what happens next.