BURGLARS have made a series of raids on Dartmouth town centre shops.

Seventeen businesses around the town were targeted on Wednesday night to Thursday morning and Friday night through to Saturday morning, July 13 to 14 and July 15 to 16. There were three attempted burglaries and one successful entry to the Co-op store on Wednesday night, but nothing was taken.

Thirteen burglaries were reported on Saturday night, with cash apparently being the goal, as many expensive items in shops were left untouched.

Wendy and Mike Jones, of Dartmouth Laundrette, were targeted on Saturday morning, with their CCTV picking up three individuals, wearing hoodies, caps and gloves, entering the property through the front window just before 2am.

The CCTV footage, which was shared on Facebook, shows three men enter the shop, turn all the cameras to the floor while covering their faces, and then leave around five minutes later.

Two climbed back out of the same window they entered, while another walked out of the door.

‘I don’t think they’re very bright,’ said Wendy as she watched them exit. ‘They went in and took out the cameras and then they came up to the flat. The dog is deaf, so she wasn’t much help. I don’t think they knew it was a flat above the shop. They left pretty quickly. They may have seen the dog and thought it wasn’t worth it. They did steal our torch though.’

Joe Murtagh, co-owner of Dartmouth Canvas Factory in Foss Street with his wife Jayne, said the thieves had tried to remove the glass from the door at the front of their shop before smashing it to gain entry on Friday night.

‘They took some petty cash,’ said Mr Murtagh. ‘Not a lot, we don’t keep much on site, but they made an untidy search of the office. It’s a bit depressing but what was amazing was the support, commiserations and offers of help that we have received from customers and other shop-owners, including some that were victims themselves.

‘Someone brought us some coffee, the police and scene of crime officers were very good. The police discovered the break-in before we did and called to let us know. Travis Perkins helped us out with a bit of plywood for the broken window and we tidied up and reopened by 2.30pm on the Saturday.

‘We actually went home quite chuffed. The whole town has been really supportive, visitors and customers, and in the grand scheme of things, with what is happening in the wider world, it wasn’t that bad.

‘This is the first time in 26 years in Dartmouth that something like this has happened and it was really gratifying that people wanted to help. Human nature isn’t all bad.’

Police say that they are taking the spate of burglaries ‘very seriously’ and are currently gathering evidence from CCTV cameras and forensics are being examined.

Sgt Iain Simons said: ‘Although they were wearing gloves, we can sometimes find hair, sweat and other DNA from scenes. We would be very interested in any information anyone might have or if they have viewed the CCTV from the laundrette and think they might recognise someone.

‘We are taking this extremely seriously. We understand the impact that something like this has on businesses and people and we are working as quickly as possible.

‘It seems that they were looking for cash, there has been no mindless damage or vandalism. Our advice is for shops not to keep cash on their premises and to make sure all doors and windows are secure.

‘The same for local residents. In this hot weather it is tempting to leave windows open but these people are around.

‘Again, in this heat, if anyone is out late at night for a walk and you see anything suspicious, especially anyone with a hood up and gloves on around the town, call us on 999. If anyone has any other information, contact us on 101 and quote the log number: 224 of 16-07-16.