A shopkeeper has been left frustrated and angry after a break-in where cash and expensive goods were taken.
Tina Hooper, 66, and her husband Alan, 68, run the Premier store in Bury Road, Rawtenstall.
CCTV footage from behind the counter captured a break-in at around 9.30pm on March 28, during which Tina said £100 cash was taken from the till and the secure cigarette cupboard was broken into.
Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph, Tina said: “The lady who lives upstairs rang us to say the alarm was going off. We were there within about five minutes. Whilst my husband had gone up to the shop, I saw it on my Ring camera and there were two young people in there.
“We immediately rang the police and got to the shop. By that time, they’d been in and gone.
“How dare they do it? It’s very frustrating, I’m really angry. We’ve been here for 38 years and in that time we’ve been broken into three times, so the overall picture is not a disaster, but at the same time you just hope the police can catch them.”
Tina said the culprits smashed through a glass pane in the front door and there was also a barrier at the back of the store which they damaged with a boulder.
Around £100 in cash was taken from the till along with cigarettes and vapes from the secure cabinet behind the till.
Tina added: “The police were very responsive. They came almost immediately and took away the boulder and a screwdriver they’d brought with them.”
CCTV footage shared with the Lancashire Telegraph shows two people wearing hoods entering the shop through a slim gap in the door and immediately running round to the back of the till.
They then empty the secure cigarette cabinet behind the till before exiting through the smashed window pane.
Lancashire Police have been approached for further details on this incident.
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