A BUSINESS has been left 'devastated' after a thief broke through a wall and reversed a stolen car through a garage door.

The wall of Electric Center in Blackburn was smashed in the early hours of the morning on Sunday and the culprit managed to enter through hole made next to the emergency exit.

An employee's black BMW series five car was parked overnight at the site in Drumstone Trade Park which the thief stole by reversing through the closed roller shutter door.

Around £3,000 of damage was done by the break in and the car stolen is valued at around £4,000.

Manager Warren Eastham, from Read, said he caught footage of the incident, which was carried out by one man, on CCTV.

The 47-year-old said: "I was in disbelief.

"They just smashed through the wall.

"It is a massive disappointment to us all.

"It's come at a real cost to the business, we've been doing really well.

"It's a positive, vibrant and growing business and this is a real blot on the horizon."

Mr Eastham usually parks his car at the site but it was having work done to it by the husband of senior sales assistant Nicola Tibbles.

Therefore it was Mrs Tibbles' car which was parked overnight and was stolen.

Once the wall had initially been broken Mr Eastham said the culprit went away for around half an hour before returning to seal the car, which triggered the premises alarm.

He said he thinks the culprit had recently visited the business and was trying to target his new BMW 330 vehicle, valued at around £15,000.

Mrs Tibbles, mother-of-two from Burnley, said: "It was just sheer bad luck.

"I'm devastated, I've only had the car two months.

"We're having a mess on with the insurance, and there is no way I can just afford a new car.

"It's so inconvenient, it's a massive blow."

She said Mr Eastham was letting her use his car when possible.

Police said enquires are ongoing into the incident.

A spokesman said: "It happened between half 12 and half one in the early hours of Sunday.

"They managed to break in through a brick wall and then stole car keys from the office before getting in the car.

"They then reversed through the roller shut before the car drove off."

Plans are now in place to increase security measures at the business and work has started to repair the damage to the walls and shutter door.