A FAMILY run cafe in the heart of Corsham has thanked the community for rallying round and supporting them after they became the latest victim in the town's spate of burglaries.

Krisia Ogborne, who runs The Little Kitchen in the Martingate Centre, was touched when locals came to her aid after her daughter Amanda found the door to the cafe had been kicked in on Saturday morning.

"It was so unexpected," she said. "My daughter went to open up and there was wood all over the floor from where they had broken the door on Friday night. They took £122 from me, chocolate bars, those posh biscuits you put on the side of coffee mugs and they had even eaten fruit and left the peel all over the floor."

Dozens of business owners and residents flocked to the cafe's aid and although the business was ransacked, Ms Ogborne was determined to bounce back and re-opened on Monday.

"I wasn't going to let them stop me," she said. "For a short while I felt so down but within minutes I had people coming and making us drinks and we even had one lady offer us keys to her flat so we could use her kitchen and toilet.

"The whole shopping community gave me hugs. Whatever those people did to me and my cafe, the whole community lifted me up just as much."

On the same night, £550 was stolen from the safe inside The Red Cross charity shop further down the road, and cash and jewellery was stolen from the Dorothy House shop in Chippenham on Sunday night.

Robert Daws, British Red Cross area retail manager, said: “As a charity, raising vital funds for people in crisis, we are very disappointed at the loss of these funds. I can confirm the matter is being investigated by the police."

Concerns about lighting in the Martingate Centre near to both The Little Kitchen and the Red Cross shop were raised to Andrew and Bill Hall, owners of the Martingate Centre, who said they are working with the shops affected and that there are plans for a major refurbishment in the near future.

Anyone with information should contact Wiltshire Police on 101.