Trick or Treat

Traditionally a time of embracing the ghoulish and extorting sweets from neighbours, Halloween has in itself become a horrific ordeal for some businesses – tyre thefts are on the rise as preparations for the evening get underway. Northern Ireland newspaper the Strabane Chronicle reports that thousands of pounds worth of products, including tyres, pallets and other materials are being stolen from local businesses and included in October 31 bonfire preparations.

The manager of one local business, Cyril Doherty, told the newspaper that the young bonfire makers are putting jobs at risk. “We are tortured every year with this sort of thing, but this year, in one night alone, we lost 100 pallets out of here along with pallet trolleys and cages,” he said. “The problem is a lot of this stuff ends up dumped in the golf course or on the road and I have to send men out to clear it up. I’ve had to put a man on duty around the perimeter fence too, just to keep the young boys out, so it is putting pressure on the manpower in the factory. With the credit crunch already taking its toll, it is putting us in a difficult situation.”

“The young people have become so brazen that they are just coming into the factory with balaclavas on and goading the staff,” he added.