THAMESIDE Fire Protection has saved £18,000 after recovering a stolen van which had been fitted with a tracking system.

The £14,000 Vauxhall Vivaro and its £4,000 worth of contents was detected minutes after being stolen when the owners alerted the operators of the tracking system in the vehicle, Thales Telematics.

Using a combination of GPS and GSM technology and street mapping, Thales was able to pinpoint and follow the exact position, speed and direction of the van, directing police to its location. John Allen, managing director of Thameside Fire Protection, said: 'We were able to recover the van within minutes, saving us a considerable amount of time and effort, not to mention the disruption that would have been caused to our customers.'