A THIEVING pensioner dressed in a high visibility jacket and boiler suit could easily be seen when he snatched a road sign from the side of the road, magistrates heard this week. Seventy-one-year-old Joseph Miller grabbed a �300 warning sign measuring eig

A THIEVING pensioner dressed in a high visibility jacket and boiler suit could easily be seen when he snatched a road sign from the side of the road, magistrates heard this week.

Seventy-one-year-old Joseph Miller grabbed a �300 warning sign measuring eight-feet by six-feet, and with the help of his daughter loaded it into his Mercedes van before driving away from Gull Road in Guyhirn.

"The sign was in a lay-by, telling motorists about road works that were going on," prosecutor Scheherazade Haque told Fenland magistrates. "A resident was in his garden when he heard a banging noise.

"He saw a male and female both in boiler suits, the man was wearing a high-visibility jacket. They put the sign in a van and drove away. The resident noted down the registration number of the vehicle, and the defendants were traced."

Miller and his 24-year-old daughter Laura Miller, both of South-Eau-Bank, Throckenholt, admitted stealing a wooden road sign belonging to Barhale Ltd on June 10.

"The sign was purpose-made, so cost around �300," explained Miss Haque.

Mitigating, John Clarke said the couple stopped in the lay-by when their car's water pump broke down in soaring temperatures.

"They turned off the A47 to inspect the engine," added Mr Clarke. "I don't know if the sign looked abandoned, but Joseph Miller thought it would be useful. He put it in the van, and his daughter helped him.

"It was an opportunistic theft, they both regret it."

Father and daughter were given a six month conditional discharge, and must each pay �150 compensation and �30 costs.