THE OWNERS of a shop in Dursley which had around £100,000 worth of goods stolen during a burglary have thanked the community for their support.

A group of three men wearing balaclavas raided Clifton Cameras in Parsonage Street in the early hours of Saturday.

It is estimated that just under £100,000 worth of Canon, Nikon and Leica branded cameras and lenses were stolen during the raid at 3am.

Staff arrived later that morning to find that the door had been smashed in.

The shop floor was also trashed with multiple cabinets broken leaving glass and debris all over the ground.

As a result, the shop has been forced to close this week.

It is hoped the shop will eventually reopen on Saturday, June 10.

"Incredibly shocked"

A spokesperson for Clifton Cameras said: "We were incredibly shocked and disappointed to come into work on Saturday morning to find our store broken into and just under £100,000 of display stock stolen.

"We have been open in Parsonage Street for 16 years and have never had such an incident occur.

Gazette Series: Burglary-hit Clifton Cameras which had around £60,000 worth of goods stolenBurglary-hit Clifton Cameras which had around £60,000 worth of goods stolen (Image: Clifton Cameras)

"Multiple cabinets were smashed leaving glass and debris all over the ground leaving it unsafe for our employees to operate on the shop floor.

"Despite this, we managed to help the customers who had taken the time to travel down to complete their part exchanges in the morning, albeit serving them on the pavement outside.

"The event has had a wide impact on our business as we have had to close all week and cancel a Fujifilm taster day which was scheduled for this Saturday.

"Despite this, we are grateful that no one was hurt and that the burglary happened at night when our store was empty of customers and employees.

"We thank everyone from Dursley, our customers and suppliers who have all shown their incredible support over the last week and the police for their rapid response at the time.

"We are hopeful to make a swift recovery and now just await new glass for our front door before we can open again.

"Our online customer service continues to be available 9am - 8pm on weekdays and 9am - 5.30pm on weekends.

"We plan to re-open on Saturday and hope to see you again soon."

Police are now urging anyone who has information or has been offered any camera equipment for sale to contact them.

The three men were described as being white, wearing all black clothing and had balaclavas over their faces, according to Gloucestershire police.

It is also reported that one of the thieves was wearing an Adidas hoodie.

You can contact police online by completing the following form and quoting incident 57 of June 3, here - https://tinyurl.com/2p8y7y7k