A swift, vigilant night patrol by eagle-eyed officers has dramatically brought a midnight machinery heist to an abrupt halt after a stolen digger was spotted and intercepted in the heart of Dartford.
The late-night drama unfolded in the early hours of Thursday, 3 September 2026, when patrol officers on routine surveillance along Hawley Road spotted a suspicious Ford Transit van hauling an empty trailer at around 12.30am. Sensing something amiss, the alert constables tracked the vehicle’s movements across the district.
Within moments, their suspicions were dramatically confirmed. The same Ford Transit was relocated on Green Street Green Road but this time heavily laden with a high-value digger perched on the trailer.
Officers shadowed the vehicle through the night until it finally came to a halt on Darenth Park Avenue. Rapid, on-the-scene enquiries quickly established that the heavy plant machinery had indeed been stolen just moments before.
A 37-year-old woman from Orpington was promptly arrested at the scene on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and driving without insurance. She has since been released on police bail as investigators work around the clock to complete their enquiries into the incident.