A DARING rooftop break-in saw criminals make off with thousands of pounds worth of cigarettes.

Police are appealing for witnesses following a burglary at the Eurospar store in Dolgellau where thieves smashed their way through the slates on the shop’s roof.

Once inside, the intruders cleared out all of the store’s cigarettes and tobacco from the display stand.

A representative of the Eurospar store, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed that “thousands of pounds” of cigarettes had been stolen.

“The staff are shocked, you never expect something like this to happen in Dolgellau, let alone your own store,” the representative said.

“I’ve been working here for years and nothing like this has happened.

“The store is very secure - we have shutters, fortified doors and alarms but you don’t expect people to come through the roof do you?

“To be honest, the hole is directly above the cigarette counter so that might be a coincidence or it might not.

“We don’t have an exact figure but all our tobacco products have been taken. Everything that was in a 1.5 metre bay so you can imagine it’ll be a hefty loss.

“Cigarettes aren’t cheap, we must’ve lost thousands.”

The burglary is believed to have happened overnight, between 10pm on Thursday 27 October and 6am on Friday 28 October.

District Inspector Dewi Jones said: “We are keen to hear from anyone who may have seen a vehicle or someone acting in a suspicious manner in the vicinity of the store between the mentioned times.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dolgellau Police Station on 101 quoting reference U163913.