Formula One side Mercedes have had their new base in Northamptonshire raided by thieves who took £60,000 worth of tools, according to a report.
Bosses at the team have passed CCTV footage onto the police following the theft in what will become a library and a boardroom in the redeveloped hub.
According to The Sun, equipment was taken from supposedly safe security boxes.
A source told the publication: ‘The tools were kept in lock boxes, they were broken into, and everything had been taken.
‘You can imagine over 50 tradespeople, four weeks before Christmas. Their tools are their livelihood. It’s how they buy presents for their kids. They were devastated.
‘The noise it would have generated would have been noticeable. It’s shocking that security guards didn’t know anything or hear any noises.’
It comes after Mercedes were given the green light to expand its hub by west Northamptonshire Council early last year in work costing around £70million, with the base located in Brackley and where cars are designed and built.
Initial illustrations suggested the base will have a gym, yoga space and a library as the 12-time constructors champions look to take all their staff to the campus.
The plans had initially received criticism, with the number of cars predicted to turn into St James Road during peak morning hours estimated to increase from 57 to 528.
Simon Wheeler, managing director of Canonbury Products, which is also on St James Road, told the BBC: ‘Ourselves and the other businesses along St James Road feel completely sidelined in the planning process.
‘We do not believe there has been sufficient information provided by Mercedes to justify the use of St James Road, other than to provide a more attractive landscape campus for their employees.
‘The sheer volume of Mercedes traffic will inevitably cause queuing and disruption.
