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Thousands Of Pounds Worth Of Equipment Stolen

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Professional thieves are thought to be behind two break-ins at a tennis club and cricket club in which thousands of pounds worth of equipment was stolen.

Thousands Of Pounds Worth Of Equipment Stolen

Billericay Tennis Club and Billericay Cricket Club, which are both based in Blunts Wall Road, were targeted by thieves overnight last Friday.

The vandals drilled through padlocks on containers to steal lawnmowers, fertiliser spreaders and drinks dispensers. Police believe the same people are responsible and are appealing for anyone with information to come forward.

Dave Randall, committee member at Billericay Cricket Club, said: “We left here at midnight on Friday and and then came back at 7am the next day to find that we had been broken into.

“They had cut through the lock on the gate that leads to the driveway and closed it back up again so nothing looked out of place.

“It looked like they had targeted a particular container and they stole a lawnmower worth £1,000.

“They drilled through a fairly hefty lock.

“It looks like they knew what they were doing, it was planned.

“I’d like to ask people if they see a high-quality lawnmower at a boot sale to let us know.”

The club is claiming on the insurance for new equipment and have increased security measures, including installing CCTV cameras.

Kirk Butler, head coach at the tennis club, added: “They broke into the container, cracked the lock and stole the electric lawnmower, which the groundsman uses.

“It’s a high-quality lawnmower and is worth up to £7,000.

“They also stole some industrial brushes that we use to clean the courts with.

“It seems as if they did the same thing at the cricket club.”

To read the original article from Echo News, click here

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Birmingham To Kick-Start New Season On Hybrid Pitch

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Birmingham to kick-start new season on revolutionary hybrid pitch – Birmingham City will kick start the new Championship season on a revolutionary new pitch at St. Andrew’s following extensive work in the offseason.

The Blues have installed a brand new SISGrass Hybrid surface similar to the recent installation at the Luzhniki Stadium in Russia where the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final will be played.

In fact 6 of the 12 Russian stadiums for the FIFA World Cup will boast the most technologically advanced hybrid system next summer.

Working on the project in association with Premier Pitches and MJ Abbott the laser guided stitching of the turf took place at St. Andrew’s this week in preparation for the new season under boss Harry Redknapp.

The laser-guided installation boasts 95% natural turf alongside 5% specially designed PE yarn, stitched into ground. The new SISGrass pitch will offer increased pitch stability and delivers considerably more playing hours than a natural grass surface.

Martin Kelly, Head Groundsman at Birmingham City, commented; “We are really happy with the installation of the new SISGrass surface and can’t wait to get the season underway on it.

“As you would expect a lot of research went into the decision for a new playing surface and SISGrass was the clear winner – the service from start to finish has been superb.”

SIS Pitches UK Project Director, Phil Blackwell, added; “St. Andrew’s is an iconic stadium in the UK and we are proud to have installed SISGrass for the new Championship season.”

British company SIS Pitches installed the revolutionary SISGrass system having already completed pitches at AFC Bournemouth and Derby County as well as the Ta’Qali Stadium in Malta where England will play their next World Cup qualifier.

Andy Cole, Consultant at iTurf Management, added; “This is a significant investment into the pitch by the owners at Birmingham City and it will give them a stable and reliable surface for many many years to come.”

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Doosan Excavator is 250,000th CESAR Machine in UK

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Doosan Excavator is 250,000th CESAR Machine in UK

Doosan Excavator is 250,000th CESAR Machine in UK

At the recent Plantworx 2017 Exhibition, a new Doosan DX85R-3 mini-excavator was unveiled as the 250,000th CESAR marked machine in the UK.  The official CESAR Scheme is owned by the UK’s Construction Equipment Association (CEA), the organisers of the Plantworx event, and is the number one anti-theft and recovery system for plant and agricultural equipment.  CESAR was launched in 2007 to help combat the theft of equipment which was estimated to be costing the industry £1 million a week at the time.

Attending the unveiling at Plantworx on behalf of Doosan was Kim Dudley, Regional Manager – Northern Europe, who was presented with a certificate marking the occasion by Kevin Howells, the CEO/MD of Datatag ID Ltd, based in Egham in Surrey, the chosen delivery partner for the official CESAR Scheme.

Doosan Celebrates Tenth Anniversary of CESAR Membership

The ceremony marked the tenth anniversary of Doosan’s participation in the scheme, which began in September 2007, when the company became the first construction equipment manufacturer to fit CESAR to all the company’s products.  The official CESAR security marking scheme was itself launched earlier that year and, as well as celebrating 10 years of CESAR, Datatag is also marking 25 years in the security marking business in 2017.

Kim Dudley said: “Since we joined the scheme in 2007, every Doosan machine sold in the UK has been CESAR marked, providing a powerful deterrent to thieves and peace of mind for our customers.  It has brought our dealers and their customers many benefits as it allows the police to quickly establish the ownership of construction equipment recovered after theft and to quickly return it to the owner.

“This ensures that police will more readily pursue stolen plant (knowing it can be identified) and lowers the insurance premiums our customers have to pay for their machinery.  Since Doosan joined the CESAR Scheme in 2007, many other leading manufacturers have also adopted the scheme.”

Kevin Howells, CEO/MD of Datatag, said: “Reaching 250,000 machines protected is a significant milestone in the story of the CESAR Scheme and we couldn’t be happier that just as the very first machine protected was a Doosan product, the 250,000th is also a Doosan machine.  Doosan has supported the CESAR Scheme since it was launched, recognising the theft deterrent it provides to the company’s customers.”

Made up of state-of-the-art Datatag security marking technology which includes tamper evident warning labels, forensic DNA, Datadots and RFID tags, CESAR permanently marks and protects machinery, making it identifiable to the police in such a way that it is virtually impossible for a thief to defeat.

As a result, the risk involved in stealing a marked machine becomes high to the criminals who tend to avoid stealing it in the first place, with CESAR contributing to a 70% reduction in thefts.

Kim Dudley added: “New Doosan machines weighing 14 tonne and above offer another level of protection through the Geofencing available through our standard on-board DoosanConnect telematics system.  Whilst thieves have succeeded in producing jamming devices that can temporarily block telematics and tracking systems, they have not been able to overcome the protection provided by CESAR marking, which makes it another very attractive feature of the Doosan range.”

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Intelligent Line Marking From Rigby Taylor

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Intelligent Line Marking From Rigby Taylor – The World’s First GPS Robotic System Is Now Available

Intelligent Line Marking From Rigby Taylor

Intelligent One – the world’s first GPS-controlled robotic line marking system that can automatically mark out a football pitch in just 30 minutes – is now available to UK sports clubs, schools, contractors and local authorities from Rigby Taylor, the company at the forefront of supplying innovative products for the successful management and maintenance of turf surfaces.

Already being used in Denmark by professional football clubs, Intelligent One has been undergoing constant trials in the UK since being announced to UK audiences at last year’s SALTEX show. Now, after further development, the innovative line marking system is available commercially.

Intelligent One connects to positioning satellites via a sophisticated Leica GPS system and is operated via a tablet by entering pitch dimensions with two fixed points. The pitch can then be marked – including centre circle, D and corner areas, as well as the penalty spot – without any further operator involvement

Designed for use with Rigby Taylor’s award-winning Impact Integrated Paint Technology, Intelligent One is programmable between pitches on the same site and can mark multiple pitches from one battery charge.

Initially designed for marking grass football pitches, Rigby Taylor is now also investigating its use for other sports and playing surfaces.

Intelligent One, the world’s first GPS-controlled robotic line marking system, can automatically mark out a football pitch in just 30 minutes.

For more information, visit: www.rigbytaylor.com

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DLF The Only Choice For Beaufort Polo Club

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Bespoke DLF Johnsons Sports Seed mixture the only choice for Beaufort Polo Club – Beaufort Polo Club in Tetbury is the foremost centre for the development of Polo in the Cotswolds.

DLF The Only Choice For Beaufort Polo Club

With 90 acres of fields and grassed areas and just a small team around him, Head Groundsman Wlodek Sterkowicz needs a maintenance regime that’s simple but that can cope with the demanding conditions that Polo brings. It all starts with the right grass seed, and for this Wlodek turns to DLF cultivars.

Averaging 32 games on each of the 5 fields per season, the schedule requires an equally intense maintenance regime. “We have to cut the grass every other day to keep it at the ideal height of 25mm. As well as maintaining cutting heights, the grass must be incredibly wear tolerant and establish quickly – often we have less than 7 days to fill divots and re-establish areas that have sustained damage.” In 2016 Wlodek sought advice from Ian Barnett from Johnsons Sport Seeds on employing Tetraploid Perennial Ryegrass.

“What it delivered exceeded my expectations. The plant was stronger, retained good coverage and just looked and performed better. It has also really helped to develop our root zone and the deeper and stronger roots system we now have can easily withstand the play – that really is key for us.”

This year Wlodek is using a bespoke mixture, delivered through his local distributor Sherriff Amenity, consisting of Double tetraploid perennial ryegrass, Berlioz and Bizet cultivars. “We’re very fortunate that all of our fields were purpose built with generally light, free draining soil. With the high quality surfaces we’re now achieving it means we can play in even the wettest of conditions, and it’s still safe for the horses and players. It was great to receive many positive comments from players on the condition of the fields last season and we’re on track to achieve the same high standards again this year.”

For more information, visit: www.johnsonssportsseed.co.uk

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