ISLIP: Police are investigating whether a lawnmower was stolen from a garden by a thief on a boat.

Richard Brooks, 61, of Mill Street, Islip, left his brand-new lawnmower in his garden, which backs onto the River Ray, while he was at work on July 10 That evening, he went to put it away in his shed – but it had disappeared.

Mr Brooks said: “I noticed it had gone and I wasn’t able to find it anywhere.

“I called police on Thursday morning and suggested it had been taken by someone on a boat on the river in broad daylight as it would have been too hard at night.

“It’s worrying if someone has found a back route. You spend 20 years thinking the garden is completely inaccessible and now I’m not so sure.”