POLICE are hunting thieves who stole a heavy iron safe and caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to Minehead Bowling Club’s Irnham Road club house during an early-hours raid on Monday (August 6).
The thieves silenced the burglar-alarm, disconnected security lights and cut phone lines before smashing doors to access the safe and remove it from the building.
“We assume they used a sack-truck or some sort of trolley to get the safe out,” said club chairman Duncan Stevens. “It is about two feet square and extremely heavy. It is unlikely that they could have lifted it.
“It seems clear that the burglary was pre-planned and that the thieves knew the layout of the club. They broke into anything that was locked and even took money from the charity boxes.”
The thieves also stole bottles of spirits and the club’s entire stock of J20 soft drinks. The break-in was discovered by the club caretaker early on Monday morning.
Mr Stevens said the damage will take weeks to repair but members have worked hard to clear up and keep the club open with as little disruption as possible.
“Something like like this is a great shock to all of us and it will be a good while before everything is back to normal again.”
An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said yesterday (Thursday): “A quantity of cash was taken and inquiries are ongoing.
“Anyone with information should call 101 and quote reference 5218/175382.”