A NUMBER of charity shops and businesses in Chippenham, Corsham and Melksham have been broken into which police believe may be linked.

In Chippenham, £150 was stolen from Jolly’s Café in Market Place which was broken into between 4pm last Sunday (February 12) and 8am last Monday (February 13).

Between 5pm last Saturday (February 11) and 8.30am last Monday £300 was also stolen from the Dorothy House Charity Shop on The Bridge.

In Corsham, £120 was stolen from the Little Kitchen café in the Martingate Centre between 4.30pm last Friday (February 10) and 8am last Saturday.

From the British Red Cross Society, also in the Martingate Centre, £500 was stolen from a safe following a report to police at 8.30am last Saturday.

In Melksham, £80 was stolen from the till at Beaven Butchers in High Street overnight last Sunday, and £300 was stolen from Wiltshire Mind in Church Street during the same period.

Cash and jewellery worth £800 was also stolen from Dorothy House in Church Street between 11pm last Sunday and 12.15am last Monday.

Community coordinator PC Hazel Anderson said: “All of these incidents happened within the same time frame and we are keeping an open mind as to whether they are linked.

“We are carrying out a number of enquiries and would like to hear from anyone who saw or heard any suspicious activity in or around any of these premises during these times.

“I’d also like to encourage all retail premises to ensure they have taken the necessary steps to secure their businesses.

“These incidents have no doubt been extremely upsetting for the shop owners and the fact that so many charity shops have been targeted is both heartless and cruel.”

Anyone with information is urged to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.