Police investigate $50,000 robbery at peat mine

Burglars stole $50,000 worth of equipment from a Southland peat mine on Monday.

Engineering equipment and tools were stolen from the New Zealand Growing Media plant early on Monday morning.

Spare nuts and bolts, the plant workshop's tools, PTO driveshafts and a compressor to welding equipment and gas-cutting tools were taken, plant manager Taiwha Nelson told the Southland Times.

She said she believed she had missed the burglars by only minutes because she saw a sensor security light in the plant office flashing as she drove to work.

The road gate to the mine was closed, but the padlock was missing, Ms Nelson said.

The robbery had halted all production at the plant as police investigated the scene.

- NZPA