£5,000 to catch robot arm thief

The robotic arm is worth £22,000 but needs a specialist operator

A £5,000 reward has been offered in an attempt to find the thief who stole a rare robotic arm.

The £22,000 arm is such a specialist piece of equipment that it would be "useless" to anyone who does not know how to operate it, police said.

Chris Lokuciewski, owner of Hydro Lek Ltd in Finchampstead, Berkshire, has offered the reward after the theft of the arm on Saturday afternoon.

Mr Lokuciewski had packed it into a car shortly before the vehicle was stolen.

'Worth £60 scrap'

He said: "Unless he works in the underwater industry the thief will not be able to use it.

"I imagine it's already been scrapped, as aluminium it would only be worth £60 scrap."

A low-pressure hydraulic power pack worth £4,500 that powers the arm was also taken when the thief stole Mr Lokuciewski's silver Audi A6 from outside his company on the Hogwood Industrial Estate.

Pc Daniel Barritt, of Thames Valley Police, said: "Both of these items are very rare and made by the company.

"They would be useless to anyone that does not know how to operate them."