Large amount of meat taken in raid
THIEVES made off with thousands of pounds in bespoke meat from a farm in Shenton.
Burglars took advantage of windy conditions to break the shop door and raid the freezers at Stud Farm Meats on the evening of Wednesday November 28.
They took some £2,000 in packed and prepared charcuterie and an estimated £1,000 in other products.
Suzanne Clarke, 41, runs the business with her husband Andrew, 50, and they live on the farm just a few yards from the shop.
She said: “We discovered that somebody had been on the farm at about 7am [on November 29]. All of the gates were open.
“At about 7.30am I noticed that they had jammed open the shop door.”
The stolen meats included a variety of beef, lamb and pork products, some of which took more than five months to cure and prepare.
Ms Clarke said: “It’s destroyed my Christmas sales.
“We are the only people who make these products locally. “I’ve now not got a business to promote in the run up to Christmas.
“All that long-term marketing is down that pan.”
Ms Clarke was in the shop on November 28 packing and preparing products and closed up at around 4pm.
Suzanne posted about the burglary on the farm’s Facebook page the morning after it happened, urging people to “be vigilant and look for any stock being sold with the below labelling”.
The bespoke shop has been running for about four years and opens on Friday and Saturday mornings from 9am to 1pm.
Ms Clarke said: “Rural crime is a nightmare at the moment.
“About six months ago I had a horse trailer stolen from the same premises and we have had a workshop broken into.”
Market Bosworth Police posted about the incident on its Facebook page.
It said: “Rural business targeted and significant amount of meat stolen.
“If you are offered any of this meat or have any information at all - please call 101 quoting incident 86 29/11/2018.
“You can also call CrimeStoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.”
The incident number for the burglary is 18000 577 661.