A SECTION of Burnley General Hospital was cordoned off today as police investigated a break-in at a retail unit.

Police said thieves broke into the WHSmith shop, between 8pm last night and 7am today, making off with a quantity of cash from the till.

This morning a section inside the hospital’s new extension, off Briercliffe Road, was taped off while crime scene investigators combed the scene.

A sign on the shop’s shutters informed customers it had been forced to close ‘due to unforeseen circumstances’.

Police said the thieves approached the premises from the rear forecourt and broke in through a locked door.

Once inside, they used an instrument, thought to be a crowbar, to force open a door to the shop’s office.

Officers said the offenders tried to get into the safe, but were unsuccessful and so turned their attention to a cash machine within the shop.

However, they were thwarted in their attempts to break into the machine and moved on to the till.

A police spokesman said: “They went to the till, prised their way in and made off with a quantity of money. “We are investigating the incident.”

A spokesman for WHSmith declined to comment because the matter was ‘in the hands of the police’.

Anyone with information about the incident should call police on 0845 125 3545 or Crimstoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.