Four growers in the Villareal area of Valencia in eastern Spain have had about 27 tonnes of citrus stolen from their trees.

All four were robbed of Clemenules by what appears to be an expert gang operating in large numbers and with specialist harvesting equipment.

The local authorities and police are raising awareness of the theft among the grower base in the region and using the incidents as a reminder to packhouse inspectors to be extra vigilant in checking the precise provenance of their fruit.