Thieves have stolen up to £70,000 worth of high-end bikes from a Killearn cycle shop after removing a window from the premises in a brazen early morning raid.
Country Cycles – Killearn, located at the Oakwood Garden Centre, was targeted by at least two thieves in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
It’s understood that the crooks cut out a window at the property in order to gain entry, sometime between 2.30 and 3.25am.
A nearby neighbour, believed to have been the owner of the garden centre site, was alerted to the security alarm going off and contacted the police at around 3.15am.
CCTV from the location shows that a white Ford Transit van and a red Audi A5 were used in the raid.
It’s understood that around 10 bikes, mostly top-of the-range Santa Cruz branded cycles, were swiped. However, staff were still checking inventory to determine the amount of items taken.
The store also carries out customer repairs, but no customer’s items were touched in the theft.
Store manager Fraser Glass said: “They were fairly well prepared. They probably scoped the store beforehand and knew exactly what they were after.
“They’ve come in through two locked gates and then removed the window.
“They have targeted two specific parts of the store. They took quite a few Santa Cruz full-suspension bikes, which have been in high demand recently.”
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Stock checks were ongoing yesterday (Thursday) to determine the value of the theft, with Fraser estimating the loss at between £60,000 to £70,000.
The company was targeted by thieves in January this year when based at its previous location in Main Street, Killearn, and £44,000 worth of merchandise was stolen in a 60 second raid. Crooks forced entry to the store in the early hours and made off with five top-of-the-range e-bikes. The stolen stock was never recovered.
The store moved to its current base at the Oakwood Garden Centre in May this year.
Fraser says that the two break-ins combined with a limited availability of bicycle stock has given the business a difficult year.
There has been a surge in demand for cycles and a shortage from suppliers.
Fraser added: “It’s been a more difficult year because of the availability of stock.
“We can make a claim through our insurance, which is a headache, but it won’t replace the stock.”
He added that, despite the latest break-in and theft, the store still has stock available in a range of other bikes.
Bicycle stores across the UK will not have stock of particular bikes until 2023.
Police are now appealing for information on the latest theft. Anyone with any details or who witnessed any suspicious activity or has CCTV footage from the surrounding area is urged to contact police on 101, quoting the incident number PS20211020-0314.
