SNEAKY thieves managed make a slow getaway after stealing a £31,000 digger from a building site.

They struck sometime between 1.30pm on Tuesday and 8am on Wednesday at Watery Lane, Wooburn Green, which is undergoing roadworks.

Watery Lane is also home to a couple of building sites.

Residents and passers-by are being urged by police to contact them if they heard or saw anything.

Kate Spark, police spokesman, said the road digger is a heavy duty, plant machinery and it is important to find the whereabouts of it.

She said: "If anybody has seen or heard anything suspicious in the vicinity of the building site, we would urge them to contact us immediately."

Hanbury Securities, which is preparing a section of the former Glory Mill, confirmed that the building machinery stolen did not belong to one of its one contractors.

Chairman of Wooburn Parish Council Julia Langley said: "It is very worrying. With a digger going missing you have to wonder.

"The thieves have taken advantage of all the roadworks and development going on. If we see someone driving along in a digger, people won't take any notice. It isn't anything unusual. "

Community PC Barrie Feltwell warned residents in Wooburn and Bourne End to be vigilant last week after a surge in burglaries.

Cllr Langley has renewed the appeal for residents to keep their eyes open since the digger theft.

She said: "Everybody has to be aware and be very vigilant."