POLICE are warning thieves who stole specialist surveying equipment from a North-East building site that their haul is virtually worthless to other builders.

The equipment was stolen over the weekend from Balfour Beatty, at the Barrack Street Docks, in Sunderland, between Friday evening and Monday morning. It was kept in two small orange suitcase-type containers and has to be calibrated once a year.

The Lica electronic total station and Lica traverse kit can only be used by larger building firms and would be of no use to a smaller firm.

Anyone with information on the equipment's whereabouts is asked to contact Sunderland CID on 0191-454 7555