A DENTIST has spoken of his anger and heartbreak after his practice was broken into just three days after thieves stole flag stones from the pavement outside his surgery.

Kevin Abbott, who owns Valley Denture Clinic in King Street, Bacup, said that on Saturday August 24, at 6am, three men driving a white Volkswagen Caddy approached the pavement outside his clinic and lifted the slabs.

Mr Abbott, who runs the clinic with his wife, Janet, said: “They left big holes in the floor in front of the reception door.

“It was a complete mess. The lady who runs the cafe next door had to close over the whole bank holiday weekend as she couldn’t put tables and chairs out as people were struggling to get in and out.

“The council told us that repairing it was nothing to do with them as the pavement belonged to the building, which is Grade II listed and one of the oldest buildings in Bacup.

“I had to fork out £100 and fill in the holes myself with cement.”

If the external damage wasn’t bad enough, three days later, on August 27, Mr Abbott’s clinic was broken into and ransacked.

Thieves smashed their way through a security bar and broke a small hole in the window through which they climbed.

Mr Abbott continued: “I got a phone call around 5.30am from the flat above saying the alarms were going off.

“By the time I got there the police were there but the thief had gone. The place had been ransacked; it’s like they did a Supermarket Sweep, but without the trolley.

“There’s nothing of value worth taking for a thief; it’s all dental and surgery stuff - there’s no drugs or anything.

“The one thing he did get away with was a cream cake though.”

Mr Abbott, who has had the surgery since last February said he doesn’t think the two incidences are related but is heartbroken that someone could try to destroy a business they’d worked to hard to turn into a success.

He said: “Luckily everything is repairable, but I lost almost a full day’s business because of it.

“We’ve never been broken into before and I can’t really understand why someone would do it, it’s just left me heartbroken.”

Contact police on 101.