Holiday hell for Guernsey guests

Monday 29 April 2024

Over the last few days at least four Guernsey cars have been targeted by thieves while parked at a Poole hotel, with thousands of pounds worth of possessions stolen, including push bikes.

Mark Smith was the first to raise the alarm earlier today.

Writing in the Condor Ferries Users' Group on Facebook, Mr Smith said he wanted to warn people because he knows lots of other travellers from the Channel Islands also stay at the Premier Inn at Holes Bay in Poole.

"...last night three Guernsey cars were targeted in the car park," he wrote.

"My van window was smashed and I had three bikes stolen out of it. It was in the area covered by CCTV and Police were informed but I’m not expecting to see them again.

"If you are staying here - don’t leave anything of any value in your vehicles overnight," he warned.

"I was parked back up to the hedge and fairly close to the car next to me - they would have needed to put the wheels on the bikes to wheel them away so also opened my tool box to find the tool to do it and also figure out how to drop the seat back down to get the bikes out the window."

Confirming the incident to Express, Mr Smith said he didn't have much else to add except to reinforce the upset that has been caused. 

Pictured: Mark Smith and his family have had their trip to the UK marred by the discovery this morning that their van had been broken into, and their bikes stolen. 

Mr Smith is a coach with the Guernsey Velo Club.

He and his daughters were competing this weekend, and although it wasn't a Velo Club arranged trip, they were representing the club and the island. 

Mr Smith and his two daughters had all taken part in the second round of the Southern MTB XC series in Basingstoke, with Holly and Amy Smith coming 6th and 8th in their races respectively. Their proud dad said this was their first off island race, and they've been left upset by the theft of their bikes immediately after their competition.

Mr Smith came 25th out of 40 in his race.

Their experiences in the MTB XC series have been marred by the loss of their bikes and the damage caused to their van. 

Mr Smith said they weren't the only ones targeted with three other Guernsey cars attacked last night. He said no other vehicles were broken into. 

A further Guernsey car was also targeted on Friday night though. 

Pictured: At least four Guernsey registered vehicles were targeted by thieves while parked at a Poole hotel this weekend. 

Karl Robert was prompted to share his experience after seeing Mr Smith's post.

Writing on the same Facebook forum he said that he had "the same experience at Premier Inn Holes Bay Friday night/Saturday morning. My truck was broken into, smashing the drivers window. About £1k worth taken.

"Please be vigilant and don’t leave any valuables in your vehicles," he warned.

Both men appear to have been given different information by the hotel staff too with Mr Smith saying he was told that "they never have anything like this happen here" while Mr Robert replied saying that his friend was told they are "just another in a long list of people".

Both men said that hotel staff had told them to report the thefts to police in the town. 

Express has contacted Premier Inn for comment and will update this story if/when we hear back.