Mystery of solar panels removed from roof

Andy and Carol Leslie discovered the bizarre scene after returning to their home in West Grinstead from a long weekend in Amsterdam.

“It’s all a bit of a mystery. It’s really odd,” said Andy, 53, who works as an IT consultant.

He said they got back to their house in Coolham Road just after midnight and it was not until the following morning that he looked out of the window and saw the solar panels - which had been on the roof of their barn - were missing.

When he went outside to investigate, he found the panels on the ground inside their barn, which they use as a garage.

“It was strange,” said Andy. “They were neatly stacked and all the fixtures and fittings were there.”

Now he thinks that a solar panel firm employed to remove some panels simply got the wrong address.

“We occasionally get people coming to our house because of a Sat Nav fault so it looks like this is what happened - and that guys from the solar panel company have come to the wrong address and removed the panels before realising their mistake and doing a runner without leaving any contact details.

“Mistakes happen but what is really disappointing is the dishonesty of the individuals/company involved.”

The couple, who face a £2,000 bill to replace the panels, have reported the matter to police and are offering £100 reward to anyone who can identify the company responsible.

“I don’t know if it was a one-man operation or a bigger company but it has clearly been professionally done,” said Andy.

“What would be the ideal scenario is if the company just came forward and said ‘it was us’, gave my wife a bunch of flowers and put the panels back. And that would be that, that would be ideal.”