Campsite Thieving - What to do about it?

[MIKE C (Liverpool Boys)]

Two of us stayed up all Saturday night last year. The two tw-t we caught one got a fine boot in the balls, the other got an 18st right hook off me, which by the sound of the impact, I bust part of his face. There excuse as he was trying to rob Stu's gear was I am french, our reply was so f-----g what cop for that. I agree that were possible we should keep an eye out for each other, but don't be stupid you never know if these people are tooled up so be careful. I was a landlord, so I have a feel for the bas--rds having seen every type of smackhead you can think of. Remember they are sober you could be half pissed.
 A 2 foot length of scaffold tube across the knee caps, then say he fell over the car running off, your word against his. We were on MB last year and had a problem, this year we are tucked a way at the back of BN.

[Robspot]

Strike first. Ask questions later.

[Chris (Liverpool Boys)]

It does seem a terrible shame that things got so bad the first year i went never really had any problems but like the old saying goes doesnt matter where you are you are never far from sh*t!!!!

Now wheres that scaffolding pole gone?

[Nordic]

Its nothing new, we were robbed in the mid 80's, then nothing since apart from a few chairs.

I really dont think its worth getting into a fight over. Your in a forgien country, likey to be pissed without any legal backup, sleeping in a tent that is hard to protect surround by people who are unlikey to want to get involved.

Just be careful with where you keep your stuff, unless your prepared to loose it, dont take it was my motto.

[nickliv]

Electric fencers appear on ebay, they'll run off a car battery. Hmmmmmmmmm

[paulydee]

Electric fencers appear on ebay, they'll run off a car battery. Hmmmmmmmmm

Possibly a bit counter-productive, when they give you a tingle up your todger as you nip round the back of your tent for a quick wee and forget about the fence.... 

Or the pikeys will just have it away with your car battery.... 

[chrisbr68]

Afternoon chaps,

first post here so hello as well!

Were with speedchills and we have opted to go for the more secure camping option, the reason partly attibuted to what I have heard about thieving. I camped only once before in 2003 and we had no problems in Houx. I hope we dont find out the hard way!

Cheers, Chris.

[Radar]

My impression was that last year it was the quiet sites away from the circuit which were targeted, eg Bleu Nord, and it was pretty obvious why: No-one around from Saturday afternoon until Sunday morning cos everyone was at the circuit. HA is probably less of a problem cos there's always someone around.

We lost a quad bike, and following the tracks afterwards it was pretty obvious that the scrotes had walked off with it it, then hidden it in a field before turning up later with a van or something to take it away. Now, you'd have thought a few shifty blokes pushing a quad around at 3am would have been spotted - but nope. This year, I'll be keeping an eye on my stuff - but also other people's.

One other thing - lots of prestige cars had their badges nicked last year, and the takers didn't mind doing some damage in the process. I'd say one way to avoid this is to take a cover for the car...

[Lord Pig-Pen]

Given that nearly everyone I know is on HA this year I think we should have round the clock security. However, for regular Le Mans visitors anywhere, I think it is pretty easy to spot non race fans (i.e. thieves) or now the security has improved  (security personnel) and a quick nod to your local campers should help increase awareness.

Otherwise, send them over to Pig-Pen's Perversion Parlour and we'll **** them real good 

Too rite
The cattle prod I just purchased from my Uncle Shirly is a right handful. He said its a bit pokey!
My splatter grenades should be fun too!

[Pilgrim]

Afternoon chaps,

first post here so hello as well!

Were with speedchills and we have opted to go for the more secure camping option, the reason partly attibuted to what I have heard about thieving. I camped only once before in 2003 and we had no problems in Houx. I hope we dont find out the hard way!

Cheers, Chris.

Apologies for bumping an old thread, but I've just booked the secure camping option with SpeedChills for precisely this reason. Seeing as some thieves are now brazen enough not only to rob tents but do so while people are inside them, I'd really rather not wake up to discover an uninvited (and most definitely unwanted) visitor stripping out anything that's not nailed down.

I never take anything I can't afford to lose anyway, but money and travel documents are obviously very important and so I carry them on my person (even when asleep) and never leave anything in my tent that I don't want to find missing when I get back.

Sneak thieves are, as a rule, arch opportunists. Having to get over two metres of anti-climb fencing and evade SpeedChills security force will, I hope, prove a sufficient deterrent that they'll stick to the public campsites instead (not that I want anyone to be robbed, obviously, regardless of where they're camping).

The ACO need to get a handle on the obnoxious jerk element before it gets out of control, granted, but while the jerks are merely annoying (as a rule) the thieves are beginning to become more and more of a problem and the ACO, as organisers of the race and campsites, need to drop the hammer on them now before things get any worse.

[Lorry]

The ACO really do have to get Securite to act as security, rather than just act as obnoxious busybodies upsetting the average punter, otherwise known as revenue protection.  And not go home at 4pm on Sunday

Having said that, Blue Nord seemed OK this year, but only after the fiasco of 2007.

[Pilgrim]

I must confess, as cynical as this sounds, whether or not in, say, five years time, groups like SpeedChills or similar won't end up running more and more of the campsite space, especially as the allocations of tickets and camping permits seem to be increasingly in the hands of ticket agents before the general public can order them via the ACO. After all, give it a few years and perhaps, if much of the campsites are privately run, it would be handy for the ACO to avoid cracking down on the thief and jerk element by saying to the campsite companies 'Your campsites, your problem.'

[Pilgrim]

is it such a problem in the scale large public attended events?  How does it compare to say Glastonbury or the British GP?  Personally, I've never seen any thieving/pilfering, I've heard of a few instances though.  I guess the sensible thing to do is anything on 'display' or nickable is less attractive/valuable than your next door neighbours gear.  Don't think any of us is in that cateagory of camping with 'Gucci' kit.

I wouldn't say it's a really major problem. Yet. But I'd rather see it clamped down on before it develops any further, I must admit. As far as the British GP goes I don't know, as I've never been. But Glastonbury has a serious theft problem, and I've been there a couple of times. It's not just that people steal from tents at Glastonbury, I've heard reports of people coming back from bimbling around the site to find that there was only a patch of bare grass (or mud) where their tent used to be and that everything inside the tent had gone with it to Parts Unknown. That and I've also heard about people having tent thieves rob them while they were actually in their tents, occasionally using pepper spray as form of persuasion.

[Barry]

Theft at LM is a bit overblown IMHO.

Would we expect better in a similar situation in UK? No, Glastonbury and Reading are a nightmare.
Are you careful about pickpockets in UK? We are, we have teams regularly coming down from the smoke to work our town, due to the number of tourists. Why not do the same in France?

Any campsite is risky, just lock tempting stuff in your car, you would not dream of leaving it out on a UK campsite, even a 'holiday' one.

[Lorry]

I must confess, as cynical as this sounds, whether or not in, say, five years time, groups like SpeedChills or similar won't end up running more and more of the campsite space,....

The ACO really do seem to be in two minds as to whether they want to deal with the public at large. I think the main reason for people using the agencies in the past, is that they get the tickets they ask for (even though Maison Blanche is half empty, the ACO think its full).

So does this mean that as well as the agencies mark up, we'll have to pay for private security and site fences