Peterborough police seize £50,000 worth of suspected stolen goods including salmon, ham and Lego - this is what will happen to the items next

Peterborough police who raided a Peterborough house looking for 28 tubes of toothpaste were given a shock – when they discovered a haul of £50,000 worth of suspected stolen goods.

Police made the discovery at a home in Park Road, Peterborough last week.

Items found included meat, toiletries – and even Lego.

A 62-year-old man has been arrested and charged with handling stolen goods.

A Cambridgeshire Police spokesperson said: “After being alerted to a shoplifting in the city centre last week, CCTV operators helped our officers track a man to a house in Park Road.

“When entering the house to look for 28 tubes of toothpaste which had been reported as stolen from Poundland, what they found was so much more…

“Suspected Stolen items estimated to be worth a total of £50,000 were found inside the house, including:

“21 packs of salmon

“66 packs of sliced ham

“55 joints of meat

“50 bottles of shower gel

“Clothing, footwear, and designer bags

“Electrical items

“7 Lego sets

“A range of beauty products!

“This was a great piece of collaborative work between CCTV operators and our officers, taking the estimated total of suspected stolen items seized by us in the past few weeks to £55,000.

“A 62-year old man was arrested and charged with handling stolen goods, and is due to appear in court later this month.”

What will happen to the items?

When asked what will happens to the items recovered by police, a Cambridgeshire Police spokesperson said: “At this time, nothing will happen to the suspected stolen items while enquiries take place.

“If it’s established the items were stolen, the perishable items will be destroyed because it will be unknown how they have been stored (eg. frozen then defrosted) so therefore, cannot be released to the public or an organisation for consumption.

“Other items will be returned to the rightful owners, however, it that’s not possible, the items will go to auction and funds from the sales will go to charitable causes chosen by the OPCC. The property office makes sure, where possible, that as little as possible goes into landfill.”