A brand new charity shop in Melton Mowbray was broken into over Christmas.
The Hanger and Landing Pad Cafe, which provides essential funding and support to the Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance Service, opened in mid November.
It sells a wide variety of items, from new and pre-owned homeware, furniture, clothing, and electricals, as well as brand-new white goods.
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The Melton community welcomed the shop when it opened, filling a previously empty shop after Countrywide Farmers closed down, before they closed up for the Christmas break.
However, returning to the store on December 29, they found the shop had been broken into, forcing them to close while police investigated.
They reopened later that day, only taking card payments as the tills were being checked for forensics.
Police have confirmed a number of items were taken in the burglary – including an iPhone, a games console, a laptop, and some cash.
Posting on their Facebook page, the shop’s management said they were “devastated” by the burglary.
They wrote: “It is sad to inform but our store and coffee shop are both currently closed today due to us been broken into over the Christmas period, not nice to come back too. We are all devastated and heartbroken that this could happen to our new store.
“We are currently dealing with the police who are on site and hoping to have the store back open as soon as we can for you, we will let you know once we reopen.
“Apologies in advance to all our customers.”
Later on, staff posted again to the Facebook page, thanking customers for their support and confirming the store’s phone was stolen.
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They wrote: Thank you for all your kind messages and support! It means a lot to us. Unfortunately we are only able to take card payments due to ongoing forensics.
“Currently as our shop mobile phone been stolen we have no mobile so we are not ignoring your call! We are currently in the process of setting it up so we can get calls diverted to one of our staffs phone so we can still answer your calls!
“This may take 24 hours so feel free to contact us via Facebook if need us.
“Thank you for your patience and support and see you all soon!”
A spokesperson for Leicestershire Police said: “I can confirm that we are investigating a burglary at a premises in Scalford Road, Melton.
“The incident is believed to have taken place between 2pm on Friday 24 December and 8am on Wednesday 29 December.
“An Xbox 360 console, cash, an Apple iPhone and a Lenovo tablet computer were stolen during the incident.
“Enquiries are continuing. If anyone has any information about the incident or the stolen items they are asked to contact 101 or report via www.leics.police.uk“
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