Dundee shop owners say they are devastated after their businesses were targeted in a series of overnight break-ins.
Thieves smashed their way into Lee’s Chinese, Barnhill Barber and The Steeple chip shop at Campfield Square in the early hours of Wednesday.
Money is thought to have been taken but the value of the stolen property has yet to be confirmed.
Police taped off the area for several hours and scenes of crime officers were spotted inside some of the outlets.
Sangar Karim, owner of Barnhill Barber, told The Courier: “I got a phonecall from police at around 7am.
“I’m devastated. I don’t know the extent of what’s been taken or damaged inside.
“The glass on the bottom panel of the door has been smashed.
“I’m going to try and open today after the police have done their investigation.”
It is understood the damage was discovered when staff at the nearby Co-op turned up for work.
Arfan Saleem, owner of The Steeple, says his business suffered a similar break-in around this time last year.
The 38-year-old said: “It’s a disaster that this has happened again.
“The cash drawer was taken and the till monitor was smashed.
“The glass panel has been damaged on the bottom half of the door.
“I don’t know how much cash was inside the drawer. Police are reviewing CCTV footage.
“We’re going to reopen tonight. The glass is going to be fixed and the register replaced.
“Our till that was damaged costs over £2,000.”
Shopper, Brian Henry, 76, labelled the incident as “shocking”.
He said: “We use the shops regularly and when we came here today we saw the police.
“It was unclear how many shops were targeted. As far as I’m concerned, one shop is too many.
“The shops around the square are all kept in good condition. I think it’s shocking what has happened.”
Hairdresser Graeme Merchant says he arrived at work to find some stores cordoned off.
He said: “I arrived just around 8.30pm and there was a cordon at the barbers and chip shop.
“The police have been in this morning asking about CCTV, but that’s about as much as we know.
“I was shocked at the number of shops targeted.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We were made aware of break-ins at three business premises at Campfield Square in Dundee shortly after 6.10am on Wednesday.
“Inquiries are ongoing.”
The break-ins come a week after the Premier store on Claypotts Road in Broughty Ferry was targeted in a ram-raid.
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