TWO young tradesmen have been left thousands of pounds out of pocket and struggling to earn a living after thieves broke into their vans and stole their tools.

Luke Philpotts and Brad Saul lost more than £6,000 worth of kit between them in a spate of van raids that swept the city at the weekend.

Now a fundraising page has been set up to help the plumbers replace their lost equipment. Click here to donate.

And their bosses have offered a total reward of £1,000 for information that leads to a conviction.

Brad, 22, who works for ReplaceMyBoiler.com in Salisbury, said he was “fuming” after the “devastating” raid which had left him unable to work and had cost him two day’s pay.

He said: “It’s affected me a lot. I’m barely sleeping as I’m constantly on edge thinking someone’s going to do it again.”

Brad said the thieves had stolen an “endless” list of tools, and even swiped his dustpan — but left him the brush.

He said: “We’re not people who normally ask for help but we are on our knees and really struggling to make a living, pay bills, run a house and we’re worried that if we don’t start getting more tools and earning money then we won’t eat.”

Luke, 23, who works for Salisbury-based Aquagas had his van raided on Barrington Road.

He said: “Luckily I can still work at the moment as I’m just flying around with other people on the company.

“But it doesn’t get away from the fact that I’ve been left with no tools that have taken time, money and effort to build up. I can’t even change a set of taps.”

Sam Matthews, who also lost £8,000 worth of tools from his van on Devizes Road, set up the fundraising page.

He said: “I was caught out before so I had insurance, but I spoke to these guys and wanted to help raise some cash as I know how it ruined me last time.

“I wanted to show that our community is behind hard-working people and to ensure the thieving sods who took their tools don’t destroy their livelihoods.”

To help, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/bradandluke