THIEVES have left a dog training club high and dry after making off with equipment worth more than £5,000.

The South Durham and Cleveland Dog Agility Club must now replace its exercise equipment after a trailer containing various jumps, fences and tunnels was taken from storage near Stockton.

Treasurer Chris Hare said the trailer had been left at a storage site at Elton Moor Farm, Whinney Hill, on the Stockton to Darlington back road, for three years without any problem.

However, between April 21 and April 23, thieves entered the site and stole the trailer and equipment, together worth £5,300. The theft was only discovered weeks later.

As a result, the club's dog agility display planned for the Great Aycliffe Show at the end of August has been cancelled, and the club will have to borrow equipment for another show, in Stanhope, County Durham, in September.

Mrs Hare, from Norton, near Stockton, said: "I think whoever took it wanted the trailer, not the things inside it, and the dog agility equipment will be no good to anyone - except, of course, another club like ours."

The trailer is 14ft by 6ft, with the registration number LTI 46G and the chassis number 7330415. It has a double axle and blue tarpaulin. Inside were 20 dog jumps, a seasaw, dog walk scale, an A-frame and pipe tunnel, all of which were blue and yellow.

The equipment had been made by Mrs Hare's father, but she no longer produces the items, so the club faces having to pay to replace them if its insurance does not cover them. Anyone who knows where the equipment is, or has been offered it, is asked to call PC Eric Young on (01642) 302226.