Two confidence tricksters have stolen an organ worth £60,000 after posing as church officials.
The elaborate scam emerged yesterday after police confirmed the hired organ was stolen after being delivered to St Andrew's Episcopal Church in Uddingston, Lanarkshire, on Tuesday.
Paul Arkwright, general manager of Allen Organs, yesterday said the company received an inquiry at the beginning of August from a man purporting to be from St Andrew's.
"The church was a previous customer of ours," he said. "They have a small keyboard which we sold them 15 years ago after their original pipe organ was destroyed in a fire.
"The man said he wanted to hire a much bigger instrument for a charity organ recital to raise funds to repair the roof of the church. We sent an information pack to an address in Glasgow. He also gave us an e-mail address."
Mr Arkwright said no deposit was required for the £1500 hire and the credentials of the man were not questioned because the church was a previous customer.
He said his sales manager delivered the organ to the church on Monday when he met the men. They had an arrangement to meet again the following day.
"When the sales manager went back to the church on Tuesday evening it was locked up. He called the police and discovered the organ had been stolen," he said.
Mr Arkwright added: "Allen Organs has been supplying classical church organs for 40 years. I have been general manager for about 25 years. I have never known anything like this to happen.
"It was nothing to do with the church but somebody must have stolen the keys or the alarm codes to get access for when we delivered it. We will be a lot more careful about what we do in future."
St Andrew's has no minister at present. Last night, its church organist, John Lyth, said: "I came back from holiday on Tuesday to be told an organ had been stolen from the church. The organ had been hired just days before by someone who claimed they were from St Andrew's."
Police said investigations were continuing.
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