About €200 and a small computer was stolen from an egg vending machine and honesty box in Oola, Co. Limerick on Sunday, October 6.

The incident occurred at a family run business, Freeway Poultry, between 5:00p.m and 6:00p.m.

Owner of the business, James Stokes, said that the honesty box was stolen from two or three time previously at night time, where people had taken money. Two of the incidents occurred in the last two months.

However, this time the robbery happened during the day and money was taken from the vending machine as well as the honesty box, along with a small computer that was used inside the machine.

Stokes recently installed CCTV due to the amount of thefts and was able to record the incident, along with the car that was used at the scene.

The footage has since been sent to An Garda Síochána, where details are being examined. Investigations remain ongoing.

Egg vending machine

The family has been supplying eggs via a vending machine and honesty box for the last number of years now.

Freeway Poultry has now been growing since 2018, delivering Free Range, Class A eggs and live poultry nationwide.

Stokes grew up on a dairy farm, and started off selling eggs a few years ago when he was about 14-years-old.

He bought 50 hens at the time, and seen the popularity of the trade, so began buying more and more over time. None of the birds have been bought from wholesalers or hen dealers.

The business now supplies about 40,000 birds to the public every year. And Stokes said that the business “cannot keep up with demand”.