A furious shop owner has exposed two thieves who wore “specially adapted coats” so they could steal hundreds of pounds worth of items.
Charles Groves, of Groves Nurseries in Bridport, Dorset, was left “horrified” after two men grabbed watering products from an aisle in the garden centre.
He is sharing CCTV images in a bid to trace the culprits after they fled the centre on foot in the afternoon of March 13. Charles said the theft is “heartbreaking” for the centre and said his team work extremely hard.
The men were both dressed in long-padded coats with opposite-colour beanie hats on. In the footage, they were spotted looking behind their shoulders as they stole numerous hose parts.
Appealing for help to find the brazen pair, Mr Groves said: “It has made me so angry. If you have any information on who they might be I would love to know. It’s a long shot. I imagine they aren’t from around here.” He added: “They left on foot. Past The Crown pub and across Burton Road through the alleyway to Lake Lane, where I think they would have parked.
“Our team work so hard to keep our centre a nice place to be, accessible and easy to shop. Then people like this come in and take the pee.” It’s heartbreaking for everyone. I was horrified at first, then I was really angry, I haven’t seen anything quite as brazen as that. When they come in and have specially adapted coats for filling as much as they can.”
A Dorset Police spokesman said: “We received a report that at around 1.05pm on Thursday, March 13 two men entered Groves Nursery in Bridport and stole a large number of watering products.
“Enquiries have been carried out into this incident. No arrests have been made at this time.” Locals were left shocked by the scenes and branded the pair “thieving, good for nothings.”
One woman said: Sorry your hardworking business has had this happen. Hope they are recognised and return the goods, along with an apology and some break time snacks for all your team.
“I’m fed up with everyone tiptoeing around all these low-life criminals.” Another commented: “Disgusting. So sorry this happened to you. Karma will get them but hopefully, the local police can assist in making this happen sooner.”
A third person said: “This makes me angry that they have done this to you Charlie.” Whilst another commented: “There are criminal gangs doing this all over the country.
“The coats are specially designed for concealment of stolen goods. This guy was so brazen and didn’t even care that he could have been seen.
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