Police say break-ins by thieves using a crowbar at a shop in Broughty Ferry and a pub in Carnoustie are thought to be linked.
Cigarettes and up to £500 in cash were stolen from Broughty Ferry News on King Street on Monday morning.
Meanwhile thousands of pounds’ worth of damage is said to have been caused during a break-in at The Craw’s Nest Bar and Lounge in Carnoustie around the same time.
Melanie Doyle, owner of Broughty Ferry News, says she watched in horror as CCTV captured the moment two people forced their way into her shop using the crowbar – which was then dumped at the scene – just before 4am.
Shop owner ‘devastated’ at break-in
She told The Courier: “I’m absolutely devastated that this has happened.
“I got the call just before 4am to say the alarm was going off.
“They’ve used a crowbar to prize the shutter open before forcing the tills open. It was hard to watch the CCTV back.
“I’ve estimated between £400 and £500 cash was taken and around 50 packets of cigarettes were taken.
“Looking at the footage, they were in and out in a matter of minutes.
“Given they were masked you can’t put an age on the two people involved.
“They fled to a vehicle parked further along King Street.”
A visible police presence remained outside the shop on Monday as forensic officers gathered evidence from the scene of the break-in.
Crowbar left at scene
Melanie said: “The police have taken the crowbar which was left behind and they’ve also taken some prints.
“After they’d done that we started to tidy up the mess made behind the counter.
“There is some damage to the front door and the tills so there will be a cost at getting those repaired.”
Meanwhile Russell Smith – landlord at The Craw’s Nest on Ravensby Park Gardens – was also alerted to a break-in just before 4am on Monday.
He says the thieves left almost empty-handed but caused significant damage.
He told The Courier: “I reckon I only missed the culprits by minutes. It’s maybe just as well I didn’t meet them.
“Fortunately they never got away with anything from the till but they completely destroyed it.
New till system worth £2,000 destroyed
“It’s a new system costing around £2,000 that I had just installed. They also tried to get into the pool table to look for money but they also failed in that.
“They picked up a money bag that was full of coins but must have been disappointed when they saw it was all foreign coins.”
Russell, who has worked in The Craw’s Nest for 14 years but only took over running it in April, believes he has got off lightly.
He added: “They seem to have used a crowbar to get into the pub via the back door by the car park.
“That will also need replaced and will cost even more money but overall I think it could have been worse.
“My safe had all the weekend takings in it so thank goodness they didn’t get into that.
“They didn’t even take away any drink but it’s obvious they’ve also looked in a few drawers.
“I was forced to close the pub for a while to allow police to come and check for fingerprints and also to allow me to clear up when they finished.
“It’s pretty upsetting this has happened. Like everyone else we’re just beginning to get back on our feet after Covid and now this happens.”
Police have confirmed they are investigating both incidents and are linking them.
The incident comes less than a week after convenience stores in Dundee and Invergowrie were broken into.
Police are also investigating a spate of break-ins at garages across Tayside since the start of June – where vehicles have been stolen and used in other thefts.
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