THE owner of an Accrington clothes shop has hit out after a thief smashed their window and stole from a cash float.

Julie Moss says Boutique 23 was just one of three shops on Warner Street targeted in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

In two of the incidents a robber threw a brick at a window and then opened the door, while at James Hairdressing, which is on the same street, nothing was taken.

Mrs Moss insists ‘anything up to £100’ was stolen from a float near their till but it is the hundreds of pounds’ worth of damage which is ‘sickening’.

“It looks as if it was the same person that did the Revival shop and the previous night Pure Perfection was also done.

“All of the businesses on the street are concerned about this but it is ridiculous as there is not enough CCTV on Warner Street. I don’t know if it works at the bottom of the road.

“It does not give people a good impression of Accrington.”

In the CCTV footage the thief throws a brick at the window then pushes and kicks the door to get in twice before succeeding at around 2.10am.

Mrs Moss added: “It is such a shock as I don’t know how someone could be so blatant and do it.

“There would have been a lot of noise with all the glass breaking at the shop.

“We all work hard to try to make a living but then this happens. You cannot afford this kind of thing, as a small independent business it costs so much to sort out.

“It is so expensive as people see it boarded up and it looks as if you are shut so you spend money on a glazier to replace the glass but we had no-one in the shop the following day.

“Also the the alarm looks as if it has been cut and the doors are seized up so you are on the phone to get it all fixed up.

“It means you are spending a lot of time on something when you could be selling.”

A Lancashire Police spokesman said: “We are investigating three separate reports of burglaries on Warner Street.

“If anyone has any information or witnessed anything then ring 101 with the reference numbers LC/20180110/0339 or 0204 or 0148.