THEFTS of trailers in the UK have leapt by 40%, latest figures reveal. The three-year cumulative figure stood at 12,359 trailers reported stolen and unrecovered last year and is up 4,763 to 17,122 this summer.

The cost to industry is conservatively put at 'more than £130 million' with some observers suggesting the real figure may be double that.

The Government is looking at a trailer registration scheme, which the police and the Commercial Trailer Association support. Both think that trailer registration will help cut the low level of stolen trailer recovery. The UK is the only country in the EU which doesn't register trailers, despite having the biggest fleet and almost certainly the highest percentage of theft.