Burglars strip apartment block and make off with everything (including 32 kitchen sinks)

Brazen thieves got away with £250,000 worth of fittings from an abandoned housing estate - after posing as builders carrying out demolition work on the project.

The gang, wearing hard hats and high-visibility vests, parked a lorry in the driveway of Pepperwood Mews in Kelston, Auckland, New Zealand, before erecting a safety fence around the building.

They then marched in and helped themselves to fixtures and fittings in the 32-apartment complex, taking out kitchen sinks, doors and windows, carpeting and even wiring.  

Gutted: The 32 units of the Pepperwood Mews apartment complex were emptied of all their fixtures and fittings

The £6million apartment block was built in 2004 under a Housing New Zealand Corporation contract. But residents were forced to move out in 2009 when the building was condemned as structurally unsound. Since then, the project has been the centre of a legal battle between the owners and builders and the flats have remained empty.

Apartment owner Judy Anderson told the New Zealand Herald: 'This is just beyond our imagining. They even took the kitchen sinks - 32 of them.

'The hideous situation the owners face - they have lost income from the building, some have to leave their own homes. And they have had this last little bit of money taken out of the building which was going to fund the demolition.'

Four people have now been charged with burglary after they were discovered by police in one of the apartments.  

Ripped-out and ripped off: The theft is another blow to apartment owners who had already been forced out of the building after it was declared unsound

The three men and a woman - who are currently only charged with removing fittings from the single unit they were found in - claim they were hired by an unidentified man and  were only able to provide police with the mobile phone number of their employer, not his name. According to the New Zealand Herald, when detectives called that number, the mystery person who answered immediately hung up.

Detective Senior Sergeant Andy King told the newspaper: 'They allege they were working for somebody else. They were advised, "if you tell us who that is, we can look at the charges".'

And owners group chairman Adrian Chitty also acknowledged that the four may have believed they were working legally.

'Someone, somewhere has seen an opportunity to make some money and they have moved in - it's bloody frustrating,' he said.

The owners of a lorry seen at the site say it was borrowed from their demolition company by an unknown man and they are now helping police track him down.

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