VANDALS cause £4,500 of damage to a town centre bar following a night time raid.

The Taps Bar, in Railway Road, Darwen was targeted by two thieves between 4.30am and 5.30am on Tuesday.

The suspects used a hammer to break through salsa bar’s rear door and crawled through the hole they made in the back door. The thieves also stole around £350 from the till float.

The bar owners said the thieves damaged a jukebox and games machine.

The CCTV system, which was ripped off the wall, will cost £120 to replace and around £200 will need to be spent to replace the rear door and the till draw, bar bosses said.

Garry Perkins, who has been the owner of Taps Bar since December, said: “When I saw the damage in the morning I was very angry because it has caused me a massive inconvenience.

“The last thing I wanted to do Tuesday morning was to have to deal with a police incident.

“It has been a setback and I had to close the premises for the afternoon on Tuesday.

“It’s such a shame and I know there have been other businesses in the area that have been targeted.

“There were just two officers on duty in the night within the whole area.

“They are completely stretched of resources. They need extra help.”

Darwen mayor, Cllr Roy Davies, said: “Businesses like these are opening with the right intention because the Darwen night time economy is booming which is a good thing.

“But like anything else the boom won’t last long if all these businesses are being targeted by thieves.

“It doesn’t help we have no proper police station in Darwen.

“We only have community police who sadly don’t possess the proper resources to deal with it .”

A police spokesman said the incident is still under investigation and urged anyone who knew who was responsible to contact them on 101.