Burglar left her blood behind at the scene
A BURGLAR who smashed her way into a town centre charity shop left a ‘significant’ amount of blood at the scene.
Police were called to the Hyndburn Stray Dogs in Need (HSDIN) shop on Whalley Road in Accrington shortly after 11pm on Thursday, November 1.
Stephen Wood, a volunteer at the charity, said CCTV from outside the shop showed a woman using a large rock to break a window before crawling into the premises on her hands and knees.
He said the offender stole around £25 cash from the float but caused more than £1,000 in damage.
He said: “It’s really annoying, sickening and disheartening. We are here to try and help people in Hyndburn and something like this hap- pens. I got a phone call at around midnight from the police saying we had been broken into and asking if they could board up the window.
“When we went down to the shop in the morning we watched the CCTV and saw the woman who did it.
“We had to clean up all the blood which isn’t fair on the volunteers. She has caused over £1,000 worth of damage which is a lot for us to try and make back. All the people here at HSDIN are volunteers and nobody gets a wage.”
Stephen said it is the latest break-in to happen at the shop despite increased security.
He said: “We get broken into at least once a year and we keep putting more security things in place but apart from shuttering it completely nothing seems to work.
“A lot of our volunteers are elderly and can’t physically open the shutters. We could invest in electronic one’s but they are very expensive. People have rallied around us since what’s happened which is nice and we will get through this.”
HSDIN is the latest town centre shop to be targeted by burglars in the last few weeks.
Business owners have called for council permission to install security shutters to protect their premises however leader Miles Parkinson said it would put off shoppers.
Police said no arrests have been made. A spokesperson said: “A window had been smashed and there was blood at the scene.” Call police on 101 quoting log number 1670 of November 1.