THIEVES stole more than £10,000 of equipment from a Blackburn recording studio, leaving the owner’s music career in the balance.

Ed Hall, 23, from Wilpshire, has been left ‘shocked and in disbelief’ after the break-in, at Roe Lee Mill.

The former Blackburn Music College student said that up to 25 separate items of equipment, worth around £10,000, were stolen.

Ed, a graduate from the School of Sound Recording, in Manchester, recently quit his job in a call centre in the NHS, with the aim of becoming a professional musician.

He started raising money for the studio five years ago, using a combination of his student loan, and money from part-time jobs, to set up the base.

He moved in three years ago, but it took a further year to get everything up and running.

Among the items taken were all his microphones, some from the USA, a guitar amp, mixing deck, and pre-amps.

The former Ribblesdale High School student said: “I went into shock for the next few days after it happened.

“It has put me back to square one. I feel sad that it’s happened, but I also feel sad for the person, or people, who did this because they must be in a bad situation to do this.

“Along with the equipment, they have also taken a lot of time, and work and planning.

“I put a lot of love into that place, and it’s all gone now.

“I don’t really know where to go from here, to be honest, and I hope it never happens again.

“I quit my job recently to try and make a go of it.

“It’s a harsh lesson for me because my insurance lapsed a couple of days before, and I was being very slow at renewing it.

“I shouldn’t have put off something as important as that.”

Lancashire Police are investigating break-in, which happened between last Tuesday night and Thursday morning.