Bizarre fruit and vegetable thieves have broken into an allotment to steal everything from strawberries to potatoes.

A spate of thefts have hit Fullwell Avenue North Allotments, Fullwell Avenue, Barkingside in the last two weeks.

Allotments chairman David Sevant appealed for vigilance from residents and councillors of area committee three held in Redbridge Sports and Leisure Centre, Forest Road, Barkingside on Wednesday, in the hope the food thieves can be caught before they ruin more crops.

He said: “They’ve pulled up radishes but left the smaller ones.

“Actually, they put the smaller ones back in so they’re even picky about what they’re picking.”

He added: “We’ve had vandalism before but it’s so early in the season for this to be happening.

“Believe it or not, people are taking whole rows of potatoes. It’s particularly salads that they seem to be after.”

The thefts have been reported to the police, who Mr Sevant praised for being “very helpful”.