A CHARITY shop boss has condemned thieves after they raided the store during a string of break-ins across the town.

The Dorothy House charity shop at The Bridge, in Chippenham, was broken into and the safe containing cash was taken. As well as Dorothy House, six other places were hit by the burglars in the same night, with Wiltshire Police suspecting the incidents are linked.

Dorothy House shop deputy manager Leslie Williams said: "I came in on the Saturday morning to find out that we had been burgled the night before. The safe was on the wall before I left, but I couldn't find it at all. It came as a massive shock, you don't expect people to steal from a charity, especially a local charity like Dorothy House. You don't even really expect things like this to happen on such a large scale."

Between August 26 and September 3 a total of nine burglaries were recorded in the town, seven of which taking place overnight between September 2 and 3. Both homes and businesses have been targeted by the burglars with cash stolen from most of the victim’s premises.

A house in Woodlands Road was broken into between 12am and 12.35am on August 30, with burglars getting into the house through a back window. Nothing was taken.

On the same day, between 8am and 10pm, a communal post-box for the flats in Barley Leaze was damaged after a burglary attempt.

PCSO Sarah Moth said: “We’d like to urge residents to be mindful of your home security and take the following steps to reduce the chance of falling victim to this type of crime:

“Lock front and back doors when going out and don’t leave accessible windows open in unoccupied rooms.

“Always take your keys out of the lock.

“Put valuables out of sight, away from letterboxes, windows and cat flaps.”

Four flats in London Road were also broken into between 9.15pm on September 2 and 12.45am on September 3, with cash stolen from inside. “This type of crime can be very upsetting for the victim- please do all that you can to help reduce your chances of becoming a victim of a burglary,” added PCSO Moth.

Two restaurants were also targeted with The Raj in Station Hill, on September 3 between 12.15am and 10am, and Café India in New Road, between 11.55pm on September 2 and midday on September 3, both falling victim to the burglars. The Raj had damage caused to the back door in an attempt to break in, with no success, and Café India had a small amount of cash taken from the till and the contents of a charity box were also taken.

“We are carrying out thorough investigations into these incidents and we believe the seven incidents which took place overnight on September 2 and 3 may be linked. We have increased patrols in the areas and our investigations are ongoing at this time,” PCSO Moth said.

“Anyone with information should call police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”