A HAIR salon boss is insisting he needs to install shutters to protect his town centre business in Blackburn — after thieves caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage to steal shampoo.

Intruders were caught on CCTV as they made repeated attempts to smash their way into Nigel’s Cutting Shop in Town Hall Street.

And once inside the trio ignored expensive hair straighteners to walk away with £300 worth of top-range shampoo.

Owner Nigel Lomax said: “We’ve seen them on the CCTV footage — it was around 11.30pm and they were lit up like Christmas trees.

“You could see them staggering around and they must have made at least three attempts to throw the brick through the window.

“There were still cars going past and these people must have been off their heads.”

Eventually the burglars managed to smash their way through a plate glass door and made their way into the premises.

Before helping themselves to the shampoo they also ransacked the till, getting away with around £50 in loose change.

But staff at the nearby Godfather takeaway are understood to have called in police, after being alerted by the commotion, and the trio fled shortly afterwards.

Nigel added: “It seems like we get broken into every year and enough is enough. We’ve had words with the council already about installing security shutters and they said their policy had changed.

“But I can’t even claim on my insurance for £300 worth of stock like that so what we can do? It’s time to look again at shutters - I’ve been in town for 42 years and I need to do something.”

One town centre shopper, Ray Edwards, 76, from Feniscowles, said: “All this just for a few bottles of shampoo. Nigel might have had to close for the day and all of these young staff here would have lost a day’s work. It’s just daft.”

A Lancashire Police spokesman said officers were called to Town Hall Street in the early hours of Friday, initially to a report of criminal damage. Once the intruders got inside, they stole around £50 from a till and £300 in shampoo products before escaping.

No arrests have been made. Witnesses should call police on the non-emergency number, 101.