A MECHANIC has launched a fundraiser after he was crestfallen when all of his tools were stolen from his van.

Lee Harrison, 38, who runs LMH Auto Services, came home from working as a doorman in the early hours of Sunday to find his van doors open and all of his tools missing.

He is unsure of the exact value of the tools as he has been collecting them since he was 15, but believes that they could have amounted to almost £20,000 worth of equipment.

Lee, who lives in Higher Croft, Blackburn, is heartbroken that not only had he, as a self-employed mechanic, has lost all of his tools he has spent his life collecting, but that this has left him unable to work until he can buy enough of them back.

He said: “It felt like someone had genuinely stolen my life. It’s just soul destroying.

“As my headlights hit the driveway and I saw my van doors open my heart just sank and I knew.

“I had a look and it had just gone – everything.”

Lee said that he naively thought that his business insurance would cover the contents of his van but as it does not, he is unable to claim back for the items which were stolen.

He has therefore set up a GoFundMe in a hope that people may be able to help him get back to work again.

Lee added: “For me to sit down and list what I was missing from what I remember, it would probably take me three or four days.

“It’s probably about £20,000 worth of equipment and 25 years' hard work, 15 of that trying to build my own business.

“Someone just whipped it out from underneath me, probably in about half an hour.”

If you would like to donate to Lee’s GoFundMe you can do so by visiting https://bit.ly/3eGUjTW