THIEVES are raiding bins at Canvey’s Thorney Bay Caravan Park in a bid to steal residents’ bank details, it is claimed.

A security guard on the site said colleagues were having to chase off the crooks. It is thought they want to sell on identity details. But the site owner said this was only an issue around Christmas and had stopped.

The guard claimed last week a man was seen trying to sell a police ID card for £500. He said: “It’s getting out of control.

It is a massive problem. Almost every day we have to see the crooks off.

They have even stolen a policeman’s ID and tried to sell it.

“It’s happening all over the park.

Residents have complained, but whatever we do the crooks keep coming back.

We report it to police, but nothing has been done.”

A 43-year-old woman resident said: “I often see people going through the bins, taking things. When I moved here, people warned me about not putting letters in the bins because people go through them. It is really worrying.”

However, park owner Jeff King denied there was still a problem. The millionaire said: “I get a report from the guards every week and we had a couple of incidents around Christmas, but I’m not aware of any since. When we’ve caught these people, they claim to be looking for scrap metal. But if they are looking for documents they’re not going to tell our security. It never really became a problem because we quashed it. We have security on site 24/7 so I am confident it is not a problem.”

Chris Wood, district inspector for Castle Point, said he was not aware of the issue, but urged residents to take care with disposal of documents.