Ms Bourne added: “The kits make stolen tools traceable and harder for criminals to profit in re-seller markets.
“For traders, their tools can be their livelihoods, they often cost thousands of pounds to replace and theft of equipment can leave people out of work.”
Kits used in the scheme work by providing an invisible DNA gel which can be used to mark property such as tools and machinery.
The gel dries clear and then can only be identified through ultraviolet light and specialist microscopes, a PCC spokesperson added.
When analysed, the gel marking can then be used to help return the tools to their rightful owners if they are stolen.
In total, 500 of the kits have been funded by the PCC’s office in partnership with tradespeople website Checkatrade.
A report by trade publication On The Tools found four in five tradespeople in the UK that were surveyed in the report had experienced tool theft.
Tools often worth thousands of pounds can be stolen from the back of tradespeople’s vans, wreaking havoc on traders who are then out of pocket and unable to work.
