Jamie Oliver turns detective as he tracks down missing tractor and brands police response ‘unimpressive’

Jamie Oliver managed to track down his tractor after he says it was stolen, with the chef branding the police response to the incident as ‘unimpressive’.

The star opened up about his frustration, revealing he and his team were able to return the missing vehicle from where it was dumped in a field in Essex within hours.

According to The Sun, the tractor was taken on April 29 at around midnight from Jamie’s country estate, with the chef saying he gave police key information, including CCTV shots.

He said he also had the suspects’ number plate. The dad-of-five went on to say that he and his team used trackers from the missing equipment to pinpoint the tractor’s location, and went to fetch it after the police seemed ‘uninterested’.

Metro.co.uk understands that Essex Police attended the incident, and are investigating.

The Sun reports that Jamie said: ‘I just wanted to make you all aware there seems to be some confident casual theft going on in and around the village. Another local farmer and house in the village also has been broken into.

‘It’s not for me to say who, so it’s well worth being vigilant as ever.

‘When we spoke to them it was still a very active crime and frankly our security systems and team did all the homework for them but no real active interest??’

Jamie went on to claim that ‘Police weren’t interested’ in meeting them so he sent his team to return the vehicle to him.

A spokesperson for Essex Police told Metro.co.uk in a statement: ‘We were called shortly after 7.10am on 29 April with reports an empty trailer and dumper truck had been stolen in Finchingfield.

‘The caller said they had been stolen at about midnight. Officers were unable to attend immediately as they were dealing with other incidents throughout the night and early hours.

‘The informants recovered the vehicles themselves before officers had the opportunity to get there. Our crime scene investigators attended the scene of the crime at 10.15am that day, shortly after the crime was reported.

‘No forensic opportunities were found on the vehicles but our enquiries into the theft remain ongoing. We always prioritise calls where there is the greatest risk of harm to people and threat to life. This means we can’t always attend some incidents immediately but we do our best, and we do care about every crime that takes place.

‘This investigation remains ongoing and witnesses or anyone with information are asked to contact us quoting reference 42/81862/21. You can contact us online at https://www.essex.police.uk where you can use the ‘Live Chat’ button to speak to an online operator between 7am-11pm. Alternatively, you can call 101.

‘We have been working hard to tackle thefts of vehicles and we’ve seen 26.6% fewer vehicle thefts being reported to us in the 12 months to April 2021, compared to the previous 12 months. There have also been 34.2% fewer residential burglaries.’

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