Hundreds of beer kegs stolen from Ilford’s The Great Spoon pub

Bonnie Smith, manager of The Great Spoon, Cranbrook Road, Ilford, said that she believes they were stolen to be sold off for scrap metal.

The latest burglary saw two men get away with between 25-30 of the kegs, worth about £600.

Miss Smith said: “It’s happened quite a few times, so I’m not surprised.

“It’s illegal to sell them to scrap yards as they are all pressurised.

“The brewery own them but we will lose the money in the end, as they will start to take it off us.”

The most recent theft was by two men who pulled up to the pub in a white Ford transit van at about 4.45am on February 4.

They can be seen entering the pub’s car park on the CCTV footage before they go into a storage shed and take the empty kegs – capable of holding 11, 18 and 22 gallons. They then drive off.

Miss Smith said: “It’s the scrap metal price – I think they might find some scrap yard that might taken them as not all are legitimate.

“It’s happened at a few of the pubs, and happened lots of times at my last pub. They’re worth about £50 a keg.”

She said there was one incident in which so many kegs were stolen that the brewery hired a private investigator.

A spokesman for Redbridge Police said: “The theft is being treated as an isolated incident and the police in Redbridge are not aware of it being linked to organised crime. There is no proof in Redbridge of that.”

Anyone who witnessed this incident or believe they may know something about the men should call Ilford burglary squad on 020 8345 2680.

If you wish to remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.