THIEVES have stolen vital gala equipment from storage site on a farm.
The discovery was made when organisers went to check on equipment being housed in an vehicle shed on Chapelstyle Farm in Midhopestones.
Gala chairman Peter Brailsford, 59, is worried that the materials will prove costly to replace.
He said: “It is going to cost us about £900 to £1,000 to replace it which is a lot of money out of our budget before the gala has even began.
“We don’t make much money from it and for someone to do this to our community is terrible.”
The materials, including a substantial amount of copper piping, were locked away and thought to be safe.
