16398AN engineer has recovered tools which were stolen six months ago after he spotted them for sale on an internet auction site.

Tony Willson, 55, of Daniel Crest, Warminster, had £300 worth of kit stolen from his home in July.

On Christmas Eve he was browsing the internet auction site eBay and saw them up for sale.

No one from the site was available to help so Mr Willson bid for and won the auction for the rivet set, soldering gun and a Bowers machine scope, used for precision engineering.

He was given an address to send the money to but instead of a cheque, Warminster Police turned up to recover the goods.

Mr Willson said: "I had almost forgotten about them.

"I was just getting on with my life as you do after you've had something stolen and got quite a shock when I saw it on there.

"If somebody nicks your stuff you want it back and it was a nice Christmas present, especially the machine scope which meant quite a lot to me.

"When I spoke to the police at the time they said they were investigating the theft but weren't very hopeful.

"I kept my eyes and ears open and I guess I had a bit of luck.

"I regularly use eBay to buy and sell tools.

"I put in a really high bid so I knew I'd win and eventually got the tools for £103 which was a real bargain.

"The police recovered the property and asked if I could identify them, which I did by some writing on the side of the machine scope."

The theft inspired the entrepreneurial engineer to start a new line of business.

To replace the machine scope that was stolen he decided to make his own and has now sold over 30 on eBay.

"I thought as I'm a mechanic I'm sure I could make them so I did," he said.

"I'm doing quite well selling them but it's nice to have my one back that I use for myself."

Sgt Ray Lewis from Warminster Police said no one had been arrested because the stolen goods could have changed hands dozens of times before they were recovered.

He said: "The person who sold these items could have had no knowledge that they were stolen.

"We are just glad that they are back with their rightful owner."

A spokesman for eBay said millions of items are sold every day on the site, the vast majority of which are legal.

She said: "The sale of stolen property is strictly forbidden on eBay."