CHIPPENHAM NEWS EXCLUSIVE: BURGLARS stole £40,000 of rare collectables from a Chippenham town centre antique shop in a professional night-time raid.

Thieves broke a window and disabled alarms at The China Bowl, in Market Place in the early hours of Tuesday morning, before looting display cabinets.

The burglars escaped with a hoard of limited edition bone china, porcelain and pottery collectables leaving behind only muddy footprints.

Owners Gillian and Mark Goodman believe a burglar posing as a shopper had disabled the infrared bean on the shop's alarms with a piece of sticky tape earlier in the day.

The stolen stock includes thousands of pounds of limited edition Royal Doulton and Royal Crown Derby bone china, Lladrow porcelain and Moorcroft pottery.

Mrs Goodman said: "They took all of our good stuff, almost one third of the value of all our stock.

"I am absolutely gutted. I took this business over two years ago and tried to bring a lot of high quality products.

"It's hard when you put in all this hard work and someone comes in and takes the lot. We are insured but it will take time to replace everything. Much of the stock was limited edition or very old and irreplaceable.

"We are hoping the town's CCTV picked something up because they must have used a van and been here a while.

"They could have stolen everything to order or they might sell it on the internet or in unscrupulous shops."

The team of burglars broke a padlock before smashing a hole in a front window. With the alarm disabled they targeted the most expensive items in the shop.

The thieves swept up broken glass and took the evidence

with them.

Mrs Goodman said: "There was a man looking very suspicious earlier in the day. He kept coming in and out but didn't show any interest in buying anything.

"He was in the shop for about an hour. It was only after the burglary that we thought he was a bit shifty and fitted the bill."

An initial stock take has revealed up to £40,000 of goods were stolen. Among the hoard is a limited edition Royal Doulton rose garden worth £1,650 and two Lladrow figurines costing more than £1,500.

In total the thieves stole more than 100 bone china, porcelain and pottery collectables from three display cabinets.

Mr Goodman said: "You see these types of heists on television or in films and it looks great but not when you are on the receiving end of it."

Anyone who saw a vehicle or activity near the China Bowl on Monday night or Tuesday morning should ring WPC Mandie Ball at Chippenham police station on (01249) 654455.