‘We’re gutted’: Combe Garden Centre broken into after thieves make hole in the roof

The Combe Garden Centre was broken into last night after robbers entered through the roof and smashed through a wall. 

The on-site restaurant, The Kitchen, is closed as a result of the robbert.

James Trevett has been the manager of Combe Garden Centre for four years. He was alerted to the centre's motion camera at 7.10pm on 20 March. 

He and several colleagues from the garden centre as well as members of the Combe Estate arrived at the premises and straight away noticed they had suffered a break-in. 

The office had been trashed as the criminals looked for cash or valuables. 

The police were called and arrived at roughly 8pm. 

James spoke to Nub News about the incident: "The smashed a hole in a wall. They found nothing, because we don't keep any cash on site. 

"They didn't take any stock or raid the tills. Once the alarms were triggered, they left. It seemed a fairly professional job - they tried to avoid the camera and I think they had been in here, scouting the place out. We will be looking into that as we caught them on CCTV.

"I am just gutted. This place is my baby, and I feel like my home has been robbed. What's disappointing is that they managed to get away - I want to find out who did this - and I'm optimistic that we will catch them."

"The police were brilliant - they turned up quickly when we called them and came early this morning with forensics and even sniffer dogs."

The robbers had disabled many of the cameras by ripping them off the wall, but they were still captured by a few and the police have managed to locate a footprint that they believe belongs to one of the robbers. 

The Combe Garden Centre is part of the same group as the Combe Farm Shop and Cafe. 

The Kitchen was closed today due to the robbery (Nub News)

If you have any information you can contact the Devon and Cornwall Police on 111.