Shop owners left reeling after spate of till raids

0 Comments | Journal (Newcastle, England), The, Oct 8, 2009

Byline: Vicky Robson

POLICE are hunting thieves after four businesses in a Northumberland town were broken into and robbed.

Raiders smashed their way into the shops in Bedlington and stole cash from the tills before running away. A hairdressing salon, a tanning studio, a fish and chip shop and a healthcare company have been targeted over the past few days.

Police are urging anyone with information about the incidents to contact them.

KK's hairdresser's, in Vulcan Place, close to Front Street East, was one of the businesses that had cash stolen.

Staff are now counting up the cost after the break-in, which was the second time thieves struck at salon in the past two weeks.

Salon owner and hairdresser, Kelly Campbell, 30, of Ashington, said: "It's infuriating. This is the second time in two weeks we have been broken into.

"The first time they stole pounds 500 from the till and a jar of money I had been saving up in for my maternity leave which had at least a couple of hundred pounds in it.

"It was a colleague who had noticed what had happened when she was opening up on Tuesday morning. The place was left in a mess, stuff was lying all over the floor and the till drawer was open.

"It just makes me mad. It was on the one rare occasion that I had left the takings in the till and it was the night they broke in."

Thieves managed to get into the hairdresser's through the back door some time between 4.30pm on Monday and 8am on Tuesday, and made of with a small amount of money. The salon was also targeted on September 22 when pounds 700 cash was taken.

The Glow Tan sunbed studio, in Front Street East, was also broken into at sometime between 7.45pm on October 2 and 8.30am October 3. Yesterday Northumbria Police's Bedlington-based Neighbourhood Inspector Ross Davidson said: "We have suffered a number of burglaries over the past few weeks and are working hard to trace suspected offenders and recover property. "The local policing team has been visiting residents and businesses and offering crime prevention advice.

"Whoever is responsible for these break-ins is causing a lot of people a lot of distress, and it is not only affecting the owners themselves but the whole of the community in Bedlington." Insp Davidson said burglary in Bedlington is down from 174 offences this time last year to 106. Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to call 0345 604-3043, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

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CUT-UP Hairdresser Kelly Campbell, owner of KK Hair and Beauty in Bedlington, whose shop was broken into and trashed during the spate of shop burglaries in the town.