Disturbing theft from motorhome in France.. (2 Viewers)

[TheBig1]

The bikes weren't cheap apparently, two road bikes and two off-road bikes. But you are right, I wouldn't hold my breath regarding the cops if they're up to their necks like ours are..

they are under a lot of pressure because of the thousands of migrants in the area causing issues on a daily basis. bus loads of police get brought in from all over France to keep a lid on it

Plenty of videos showing the police standing by and watching as these criminal set fire to roadblocks and attack lorries heading to the ports. If it gets bad, the police round up as many as possible and bus them out of the area and then release them. if they didnt, the courts and prisons in france would be overflowing with migrant criminals. the police have been ordered to keep them moving and avoid arresting them. once arrested, they need to be processed with id and fingerprints taken. the migrants then officially exist and are obliged to apply for asylem or register as living in france. for political and financial reasons the french government are ignoring the problems

much of france, around the border towns/cities is now like the wild west and lawless. The majority of travellers though have learnt to avoid the worst spots and are pretty much unaffected. Most crime seems to be against the locals but obviously the criminals have reached a point where there is little left to steal. Bikes and anything else that can be easily stolen from motorhomes are an obvious target

 

[chaser]

I don't think so, the way i understood it was there weren't many other vans there and one was British so probably just a car park. Although I have seen loads of gypsies the last few days the further north I've travelled. I wouldnt park anywhere near if there was a hint of them being close by, not tarring all with the same brush but I know from experience how some of them operate..

Actually wasn't suggesting anything other than the reputation, we have parked on gypsy sites before now on the assumption that they wouldn't rob someone on their doorstep.

 

[Stacetop]

Round the corner so to speak from the Wissant aire is a farmers field aire. They could of been there. It's normally very quiet we have stayed there before.

 

[moulin 87]

they are under a lot of pressure because of the thousands of migrants in the area causing issues on a daily basis. bus loads of police get brought in from all over France to keep a lid on it

Plenty of videos showing the police standing by and watching as these criminal set fire to roadblocks and attack lorries heading to the ports. If it gets bad, the police round up as many as possible and bus them out of the area and then release them. if they didnt, the courts and prisons in france would be overflowing with migrant criminals. the police have been ordered to keep them moving and avoid arresting them. once arrested, they need to be processed with id and fingerprints taken. the migrants then officially exist and are obliged to apply for asylem or register as living in france. for political and financial reasons the french government are ignoring the problems

much of france, around the border towns/cities is now like the wild west and lawless. The majority of travellers though have learnt to avoid the worst spots and are pretty much unaffected. Most crime seems to be against the locals but obviously the criminals have reached a point where there is little left to steal. Bikes and anything else that can be easily stolen from motorhomes are an obvious target

I only passed through the area last week and stopped off for the night... Not one bit of lawlessness was observed...But then again the truth often gets in the way of 'bollocks'..

 

[SMB]

Actually wasn't suggesting anything other than the reputation, we have parked on gypsy sites before now on the assumption that they wouldn't rob someone on their doorstep.

I'm not that brave

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[TheBig1]

I only passed through the area last week and stopped off for the night... Not one bit of lawlessness was observed...But then again the truth often gets in the way of 'bollocks'..

plenty of evidence out there, but being supressed by the french media and government




tonnes of video evidence on youtube if you care to look

 

[SMB]

I only passed through the area last week and stopped off for the night... Not one bit of lawlessness was observed...But then again the truth often gets in the way of 'bollocks'..

Not quite sure what you're trying to suggest...

 

[Hellski]

Regarding driving off in the event of a situation, My wife and I have had this discussion a number of times as we enjoy staying at Britstop venues, permitted car parks, wild camping and we will be going to France for the first time next month.

We own a Burstner Ixeo 680g that has the drop down bed filling the living area. Scenario, activities outside which we are concerned about.

1. Out of bed.
2. Take pillows off and make sure duvet doesn't restrict closure of bed.
3. Press button to raise bed (not timed it but at least a minute)
4. Swivel seat around to driving position (they have to be facing living area and pushed back for bed to come down)
5. Open blinds (fingers crossed we haven't used the insulated windscreen cover)
6. And we are off, just hope they are patient criminals.......

As you can see not ideal and our 5 month old Dalmatian is not that scary just yet

Personally I would make as much noise as possible and perhaps starting the engine may give enough to deter. In addition to this, knowing the number to call the police in whichever country you are in.

Stay safe everyone

 

[moulin 87]

Not quite sure what you're trying to suggest...

It was in reference to The BIg1's quote not your comments re. the theft...

 

[Jenben]

We had a very similar experience at the Calais Marina Aire a couple of years ago. Despite parking for safety in the middle of 5 or 6 other camper vans we were woken in the early hrs of the morning to find a young guy taking bolt croppers to our bike locks. He wasn't disturbed by our screaming at him through the window and carried on , even "thanking us" for the bikes as he worked. We couldn't stand by while he nicked them so eventually went out. He then stopped and casually walked away (thank god) to a car where his other mates were waiting! We realised afterwards it could have ended very badly and wouldn't advise trying to stop them.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[jollyrodger]

Just cos I honestly don't have a clue, how do you know if a mh belongs to a gypsy?

Maybe

 

[Fellraven]

the scumbags wont be caught as the french police would then need to process the details of the probably african migrants. far easier to ignore the minor thefts and hope they go to great britain quickly

we have plenty of room for thousands more criminals of course

Do you have any evidence of the nationality of the thieves? This just sounds almost like a racist post and i'm surprised comments like this are allowed on the site. The video is actually of the left wing anti fascist party protesting against some neo nazi scum. Yet more propaganda.

 

[Larrynwin]

Just cos I honestly don't have a clue, how do you know if a mh belongs to a gypsy?

Either a Hobby or rounded top with a horse at the front

 

[jonandshell]

Having once thwarted the attempted theft of cycles off another van at Calais site, we decided then that a garage van was essential.
Now we have one and there is nothing hanging off it to tempt passing vermin. Out of sight, our of mind!

 

[Larrynwin]

Don't know how much of a deterrent but we keep seats and batteries of Elec bikes inside so not quite so nickable.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[magicsurfbus]

On the night of 19 April we were parked up at the Gravelines aire, prior to getting the ferry first thing the next morning. In the wee small hours we were woken by the sounds of some sort of kerfuffle and an English voice shouting "GO!". Not sure what it was all about, unless anyone else here knows? There were one or two English MHs there and not many others. We left very early next morning to catch the ferry.

As for bikes - our old MH had them locked on a rear rack, and both our bikes are pretty low value items. The current one has a rack mounting point, but also a boot big enough to fit two bikes in with the handle bars loosened and dropped down, so that's what we do now. We don't have the rear roof ladder attached either. The boot was a big plus in our decision to buy it. If I had expensive bikes I'm not sure I'd take them on holiday abroad anyway - it's a bit of an advert. More so now these e-bikes are on the increase.

Reminds me of the number of Nikon and Canon DSLR camera owners you see walking around major tourist attractions with the branded straps including the model number around their necks, ie 'Look at my high end DSLR, this model costs over £1500'. If I was a camera thief I know which ones I'd be after

 

[TheBig1]

Do you have any evidence of the nationality of the thieves? This just sounds almost like a racist post and i'm surprised comments like this are allowed on the site. The video is actually of the left wing anti fascist party protesting against some neo nazi scum. Yet more propaganda.

so you accuse me of being a racist because of your preconceptions?? I linked to a couple of many videos of violent criminal behaviour which clearly show the perpetrators, take a look for yourself

Some of my statements are based on conversations with friends who live and were born in France. Crime against tourists have always happened but are far outweighed by crimes against the home owning residents. Theft is these days almost considered a victimless crime, but it is so bad near the ports that there is little point reporting it. The french police are way overstretched and budgets severely overspent. They have stopped recording much of the crime in the media to prevent civil unrest which would lead to conflict between locals and the migrants. This is a far more widespread issue than most folk realise. Sharing the information is not racist, and I refuse to be silenced for telling the truth

 

[EuroTrotters]

I really do not have the patience for this kind of thing. I WOULD have started the Engine.

I have been watching the series "The Wanted" on BBC. I would have never made a copper, I would have beaten or been beaten by now.

On Another note, I have written elsewhere. We were at the Grand Fort Phillpe. I was watching TV at around 2am when we had that bad storm a few years back. A guy came banging on the side of the motorhome. I was shouting at him in rage, about to get something to wrap around his head. When i realised, poor and was trying to point out that the estuary was about to flood!.

He was duly apologised to and thanked.

 

[SMB]

Do you have any evidence of the nationality of the thieves? This just sounds almost like a racist post and i'm surprised comments like this are allowed on the site. The video is actually of the left wing anti fascist party protesting against some neo nazi scum. Yet more propaganda.

We discussed it over a couple of glasses last night and, funnily enough, the nationality of the thieves never came up. All I know is that it sounded like a scary experience and they showed me photos of the aftermath which included bits of their bike rack snapped off hence the shaking of the van. As for the videos on the post, I think The Big One was just trying to show that crime actually does happen in France, not who was responsible.

 

[Lot lover]

If I had expensive bikes I'm not sure I'd take them on holiday abroad anyway - it's a bit of an advert.

Glad to know that theft no longer happens in UK.

My wife is already convinced that if we stay on aires or beaches that we will be raped, murdered or worse - luckily she does not read MHF - though we are members of French Passion.

Sorry to read of the OP's plight but the losses are only things that are not essential anyway, the outcome could have been far worse.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[SMB]

Don't know how much of a deterrent but we keep seats and batteries of Elec bikes inside so not quite so nickable.

Mark was removing the bike seats when i met him! Having discussed it with them last night, the thieves apparently rode off on the bikes even though Mark had loosened the handlebars to fit the bikes on the rack and deliberately not tightened them. Thats a good point re the bike seat, I think I will take mine off from now on

 

[SMB]

And if thieves wanted my bike last night they wouldnt have had a problem with me waking up, the poor couple were so traumatised that we had to drink lots of wine, gin and jagermeister as part of a therapy session
Forgot the caramel vodka...

 

[buttons]

I was parked up in a side road in essex once with two bikes padlocked to the rear. We were asleep in the rear bed with only a window between me and the bikes. Bikes went, the padlocks were on the floor and we never heard a sound..

 

[SMB]

I was parked up in a side road in essex once with two bikes padlocked to the rear. We were asleep in the rear bed with only a window between me and the bikes. Bikes went, the padlocks were on the floor and we never heard a sound..

I think the only reason they actually realised what was happening was when the bike alarm went off, its one of those locks that, when tampered with, activates with an audible alarm.

 

[buttons]

One of the best reasons for reversing in and not having them silver screens on

This theory goes to pot when they park across your front....

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[magicsurfbus]

Glad to know that theft no longer happens in UK.

Fair point, but I bet thieves believe there's less likelihood of follow up if the MH owners are foreign. For starters you've got to make yourself understood to the local Police, and fill in all the necessary forms.

If a news report I saw last night is anything to go by, the Calais area is in a bit of mess economically speaking, with high unemployment and the obvious tensions with migrants moving through the area. Le Pen's vote in Calais was 60%. Although it's where we choose to get trains and ferries from, it's going to be more prone to social problems and petty crime than many other places. Extra care is needed.

 

[SMB]

Fair point, but I bet thieves believe there's less likelihood of follow up if the MH owners are foreign. For starters you've got to make yourself understood to the local Police, and fill in all the necessary forms.

If a news report I saw last night is anything to go by, the Calais area is in a bit of mess economically speaking, with high unemployment and the obvious tensions with migrants moving through the area. Le Pen's vote in Calais was 60%. Although it's where we choose to get trains and ferries from, it's going to be more prone to social problems and petty crime than many other places. Extra care is needed.

The last couple of years I've returned via Dunkirk to try and avoid any problems, also you can park at the port for up to 18 hours before your ferry leaves which helps, but I'm trying Calais again this time. As for the police, if they're as short-staffed as our lot you're wasting your time reporting it other than for insurance purposes..

 

[Larrynwin]

I was parked up in a side road in essex once with two bikes padlocked to the rear. We were asleep in the rear bed with only a window between me and the bikes. Bikes went, the padlocks were on the floor and we never heard a sound..

 

[The Wino]

plenty of evidence out there, but being supressed by the french media and government




tonnes of video evidence on youtube if you care to look

I don't suppose any of this might have been posted by Le Pen supporters!!!!!