Ramraiders snatch bikes worth £35,000 from shop
ASHOP owner has spoken of his shock and anger after ramraiders stole £35,000 worth of bikes.
Thieves armed with weapons used a stolen Ford Focus estate to smash the front of the Ride-On shop on Bacup Road in Rawtenstall.
They then stole 11 ‘specialist and professional’ bikes worth over £35,000 and loaded them onto a waiting Ford Transit van.
Police said the gang then fled towards Manchester after being disturbed by local residents who heard ‘loud banging noises’.
Craig Robertson, who has run the business for 21 years, said the incident was a level of crime not seen before in the Valley.
He told the Free Press: “They were all masked up. There was about eight of them with weapons and everything was put into a big van.
“It took them three attempts to smash through the window bars. They helped themselves to the expensive full suspension mountain bikes and some of the eBike mountain bikes The whole thing smacked of people out of the area and not local criminals. It was the next level of seriousness.
“It’s not what we expected. Maybe you get something like this in Manchester but not in Rawtenstall.
“We are totally gutted. We just keep thinking what else could we have done? We had pretty substantial security and they did their job but if they are deter- mined to get in what can you do?”
Craig, 49, who lives in Ramsbottom, said they are still open for business and has praised the response and support from the community.
He said: “We will try and get back to normal and we have had tons of offers of help. It really uplifting that they think of us like that.
“We have had a huge response from people on social media and in the local community. They have shown typical community spirit. We are trying to take some positives out of what happened.”
The incident happened at around 1am on Friday, April 28 and the bikes stolen include a blue/black Giant Glory Advanced, a yellow Giant Glory Advanced, a black Mondraker E-Prime R, an orange Mondraker Foxy XR, two black/green Giant Trance, a black/yellow Giant Reign 2, an orange Giant Reign Advanced 1, a turquoise Giant Reign Advanced 1, a black/turquoise Transition Patrol Alu, and a black/purple/ yellow Mondraker Dune XR Custom.