POLICE SCOTLAND is appealing for information about a high-value theft from a farm at Colliston near Arbroath, which happened between 11pm Sunday 4th and 7am Monday 5th August.

A storage shed was broken into, and 1000 litres of fungicidal spray were taken. This particular chemical is no longer commercially available in the UK and is quite valuable as a result. The spray was contained in 10 litre containers, so a vehicle was more than likely used to take them away.

The police noted that the chemical involved was used purely as an agricultural fungicide and was not something that could be used to make other chemical compounds, so they were satisfied that the theft was not linked to any other type of crime – a reference to the potential use of some farm fertilisers in the manufacture of explosives.

"We are aware that there have been other similar thefts at farms in the north-east of Scotland in the past couple of weeks, and they may well be linked.

"As a consequence, we would like to ask farmers to check on the security of their storage sheds and compounds, particularly chemical stores, and should they see any persons acting suspiciously around them to call us immediately.

"If you have any information that could assist our enquiries, please call 101 or speak with any police officer. Also, information can be given anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111. Our reference is CR/20447/19."

The police are not giving an exact figure for the value of the stolen chemicals for security reasons – but said that it was 'well into five figures'.