Thieves ripped a hole in the wall to force their win in and burgle an opticians' shop run by a former Apprentice contestant.
Garston opticians Glasses123 was raided by shameless burglars on Wednesday, April 10 at 11.50pm.
Speaking to the ECHO , owner Gavin Winstanley said: “They’ve literally put a hole through the wall to gain access - the whole building could have come down on them."
Mr Winstanley said this week's incident was the second this year and the sixth or seventh burglary the business had suffered in total.
The business owner said that in response to heightened security measures, thieves had become more inventive.
“This is the second time they’ve put a hole in the wall”, he said.
35-year-old Gavin has been running his glasses business for 11 years.
The business, which operates online and in Speke Road, Garston and Park Road , Toxteth sells high-end designer glasses as well as providing NHS optical services.
“We have a high rate of unemployment in Garston and a lot of children that get free NHS eyecare and if you are unemployed you also get free glasses”, he added.
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“If they take this service away from Garston people will travel out to get these kind of basic services that they should have access to.”
Despite a brief stint on the Apprentice in 2011, Gavin said his roots remain in the area.
He said: “We’ve been in this community for a number of years - I'm a local person.”
“I went to primary school in the area, I went to secondary school in the area.
“A lot of my customers and patients are the parents of friends who I went to school with and some of their children now come to us for eye tests - we are very integrated into the area."
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On the company Facebook page, Gavin wrote a “love letter” to the people of Garston explaining what had happened and reaffirming his commitment to the town.
He said: “We’ve dealt with this six or seven times now - that’s kind of why we’ve made the post to raise awareness - it's not just an isolated incident, it's happening really often.”
On the post, he wrote: “I just wanted to make everyone aware of the difficulty local businesses have when trying to operate local services.
“Firstly, I want to be clear we are going nowhere!! I am committed to Garston.
“I love our customers and many have become friends.
“I just want to ask if you have any information on the scumbags doing this and bringing our area and the reputation of Garston down then please get in touch.”
The post, which has been shared 192 times, triggered an outpouring of anger from the community, with one Facebook user describing the burglary as “absolutely disgusting.”
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Another wrote: “Not sure how some people sleep at night, yet again an example of someone who has grafted for their business and some scumbags come along and think it’s a free for all. Hope they get caught Gav.”
Users also rallied behind the local businessman, expressing their sympathy and support.
One wrote: “I know you've always supported our village & it kills me that this stuff happens to our own hard working people”, while another said: “So sorry to hear this gavin..hope these horrors are caught soon..and hope your business goes from strength to strength”.
In spite of the burglary, the former apprentice star told the ECHO that “the business is operating as normal and is still taking bookings.”
He said: “We are not going to let them stop us from running a successful business.”
Merseyside Police are also appealing to the public for further information.
Community Inspector Paul Holden said: "This is a small, independent business and the owner is understandably devastated that it has been targeted in this way.
"It's shameful that there are people who think it is acceptable to destroy the hard work of people who are just trying to earn a living in their community.
"We are determined to bring the person or people responsible before the courts and I would appeal to people who may have seen anything suspicious around the Speke Road area of Garston shortly before midnight on Wednesday to get in touch with us as soon as possible."
Anyone who witnessed the incident or saw anything suspicious that could help is asked to contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police CC.
You can also call the police 101 quoting incident reference 19100170144 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, via their online form of by calling 0800 555 111.
