Thieves target Leadenham garage store in late night raid

The raiders smashed a large glass door to get into the premises of F. Troop & Son in Lincoln Road, Leadenham, in the early hours on Tuesday.

The business was closed at the time.

The cigarettes were worth £4,000 and a further £3,000 of damage was caused in the raid on the service station and convenience store, which has recently had a major refurbishment.

Police are investigating the incident, which was captured on the business’s CCTV cameras. Three men were said to have been involved in the raid.

It is believed the thieves used a heavy metal wheel stolen the same evening from the yard of a neighbouring business to smash their way into the garage through a thick glass sliding door.

They ripped a cigarette cabinet from a wall in the shop and then broke down a door to get into a store room, where they took more cigarettes.

Business owner Rodney Troop said the damage was disappointing after all the hard work by staff during the costly refurbishment of the forecourt and frontage.

Despite the disruption, the business was open as usual at 5.30am on Tuesday morning and the clean-up was complete by the afternoon. Customers were not inconvenienced.