£40,000 burglary at Craven Arms garage

Burglars have stolen more than £40,000 of motorbikes, tyres and equipment during an overnight raid on a garage in Craven Arms.

David James, of Craven Arms Tyre Services in Shrewsbury Road, said the thieves stole about £19,000 of tyres, motorcycles worth £18,000 and specialist equipment worth more than £5,000.

The raid happened between 7pm on Wednesday and 7am on Thursday.

Around 800 tyres of various sizes were stolen together with up to eight motorcycles.

"They must have had a truck to steal all this in one night," said Mr James.

"They knew what they were looking for and caused about £3,000 damage breaking in. As well as the tyres and bikes they got into the office and stole a lot of specialist equipment like cameras and tools we use to service commercial vehicles and diagnostic equipment.

"We must have lost easily 800 tyres. It's a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears to build up all this stock and it's gone in one night.

"It's so frustrating they have cleared us out. It's sickening. We serve a lot of local businesses and people have offered us support."

Richard Ewels, spokesman for West Mercia Police, said: "We are appealing to anyone who saw anything suspicious to contact police on 101."

Information can also be given to Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111.