/ 9 February 2005

You can’t take it with you … can you?

Stealing toiletries and even bathrobes from hotels is one thing, but a British couple have taken pilfering to new heights after liking their hotel shower so much they took it home with them.

The unusual theft came after the pair, a man in his fifties and a woman in her twenties, spent the night in a four-poster bedroom at the 17th-century Globe hotel in Topsham, near Exeter, south-west England, its owner said on Wednesday.

After they checked out of the room, staff found the entire shower unit had been taken from the en suite bathroom.

Hotel owner Liz Hodges said the couple — whose identity is unknown as they paid cash — had left her with a bill of about £300 (R3 400).

While small-scale pilfering is common, ”I have never experienced anything on this scale before,” Hodges said, explaining that the couple had turned off the water supply before disconnecting the shower.

”I just cannot believe someone would do this,” she added.

Devon and Cornwall Police Sergeant Alan Mobbs said the theft is considered unusual, ”particularly when you consider the efforts needed to physically take a shower from the wall”. — Sapa-AFP