£10k reward to catch thieves

They netted almost £3,000 from the break-in at Ladbrokes, Yorkshire Street -- but now have a bounty on their heads of more than triple that amount.

Ladbrokes have also pledged a review of security to prevent any more thefts.

A spokesman said: "There were no staff present at the time but a quantity of money was stolen, unfortunately.

"We are putting up a reward of £10,000, in conjunction with the industry body The Association of British Bookmakers, for any information that leads to the capture or conviction of the people responsible.

"We are liaising closely with police as to who did it and how they did it.

An event like this happening is quite rare but we will be looking at security measures in all our shops to see how we can beef up security."

The break-in happened between midnight on Saturday and 6am on Sunday.

Police say the thieves got into an empty flat above the shop and dropped through the ceiling to get into the bookies.

They had climbed a 6ft wall to get on to a flat roof, entered the empty flat in Plumbe Street, removed floor boards and cut through a water pipe to make a hole in the floor.

They then dropped through the hole into the back of the shop, searched the premises and stole a cast iron safe and £2,700 cash before escaping through the fire exit.

The break-in is similar to a burglary at Chicken Barbeque, Boot Way, over the weekend where thieves also climbed on to a flat roof before ripping through felt roofing tiles and dropping into the shop. They forced a till and stole £150.

Last month robbers got into the Abbey bank, Manchester Road, Haslingden, through similar means.

They waited overnight in an upstairs flat for staff to arrive before jumping through a hole they had made in the floor and getting the workers to hand over several thousand pounds from safes.

Police described the technique as "rare."

Anyone with information should call police at Burnley on 01282 425001 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.