THIEVES may be targeting rural post boxes, removing them from the side of the road and selling them on for their scrap value.

This is the theory of police after three boxes disappeared from the Alfrick area near Malvern.

Overnight on Friday, Seprember 25, one was pulled out of a wall at Alfrick Pound, scattering stones on to the ground, and two more were rem-oved from the telegraph poles to which they were attached at Tundridge Bridge and Crews Hill.

Jonathan Wilkinson, who regularly used the Alfrick Pound post box, said: “It was there at 5.30pm on Friday when the post was collected, but gone the following morning.

“A lot of people in Alfrick Pound used this post box, and now we’ll have to go down into Alfrick itself to post our letters.

“The post office says it will be six to eight weeks before we get a new one.”

Local policing officer Sarah Ransome-Williams said: “We would like to hear from anyone who saw anything suspicious in these areas around the time these post boxes are thought to have been stolen. They are likely to have been taken to be sold on as scrap or for their ornamental value.

“Officers will be in the area reassuring peopleand of the likelihood that the post contained within them will have been dumped. Officers will also search the areas around the boxes for traces of the post.”

Royal Mail spokesman Tom Prendergast said: “We are not able to say if mail was in any of the boxes when they were stolen. Any customers concerned can call Royal Mail customer services on 08457 740740.”

Anyone with information about the thefts should call PC Ransome-Williams on 0300 3333000. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.