THIEVES ransacked a south Wirral auto shop before stealing £25,000 worth of tools and paint equipment.

Burglars forced their way into Hawkes and Wright Ltd, in Neston, by smashing down the front door during the early hours of Sunday morning.

Lee Wright, who runs the business with Philip Hawkes, said many of the tools stolen from the garage, on Clayhill Industrial Estate, are irreplaceable.

He told the Globe: “Our front door was smashed in and they have absolutely ransacked the whole garage.

“They took around £25,000 worth of stuff including loads of paint, paint material and tools.

“It’s really hard for us to replace it all as it’s years and years worth of tools and tool boxes that we have collected over that time.”

Cheshire Police says investigations are ongoing into the break-in but Lee believes it may have been carried out by someone with a vendetta against the firm.

He said: “We think that whoever has done this has done it to stop us from working. We don’t know if it’s someone with a vendetta but we’re a really busy workshop and it’s like they have done it to disable us and stop us from working.”

Wirral Globe:
Lee Wright, one of the directors of Hawkes & Wright Ltd, which was broken into over the weekend.

Lee has been able to call in favours from friends, who have provided tools to keep the business going.

A spokesman for Cheshire Police said: “At 11.35am on Sunday, January 25, police received a report of a burglary at a business premises in Clayhill Industrial Estate, Buildwas Road in Neston.

“A number of items were stolen from the business and police have been making a number of enquiries.”

Anyone with information should contact Ellesmere Port and Neston NPU on 101 quoting incident number 303 of January 25.

Alternatively, information can be given anonymously by contacting Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.