PEOPLE living in Gloucestershire villages are being offered new chainsaws by men turning up at private houses in a white and green van.

A number of reports have been received of attempts to sell chain saws to residents in Eastington and Ryeford in the Stroud district, which police are treating as suspicious.

Reports have been received of men in hired vans approaching members of the public on their driveways in rural areas and inviting them to purchase new chainsaws. The public should not buy them if they are at all suspicious and exercise caution as they could be stolen or unusable.

The affected areas are Eastington and Ryeford at the moment and the reports are of males in the area in Irish registered vehicles. Their descriptions are white males, late 30’- 40’s, large build, weighing some 15 stone, with mousey and dark hair. One was described as about 5’ 11”, with dark hair, wearing a burgundy zipper jumper, blue jeans and brown shoes.

They are mainly seen using a White and a Green Hire van.

Police Harm Reduction Advisor Kim Mowday said: “People should be very careful before agreeing to buy these. We want to obtain vehicle details, descriptions of the males and the makes of the chainsaws offered. The items could be stolen, and the suspects may try to dupe purchasers with various ‘cons’ such as empty boxes, boxes with rocks or other weights in, chainsaws that don’t work or other scams. They could be operating anywhere in the county, so don’t assume they won’t come ‘down your way’.

“If you have a visit and are able to obtain details of the vehicles, descriptions of suspects and goods they are offering and the direction in which they drove away, contact Police on 101 quoting Incident s 131 of 15 January and 191of 27 January.

“Or pass the information as soon as possible to your Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator. Neighbourhood Watch information is on the Constabulary website ‘Useful Links’ at http://www.neighbourhoodwatch.net/ “