A SWINDON trader is offering a £250 reward after thieves made off with a haul of mobile phones.

The burglary occurred at Prestige Communications in Corporation Street at 2.30am on Monday. Thieves got away with more than £2,000 of mobile phone gear.

Now Robert Chequers, one of the partners at the firm, is offering £250 to anyone who gives the police information about the theft which leads to a conviction.

Fourteen mobile phones were taken in total, but Mr Chequers said more would have been stolen if the police had not responded within two minutes of an alarm going off.

He said: "They broke in through one of the small windows next to the front door causing £250 worth of damage.

"Even though the window was made of reinforced glass they smashed it with a brick, which must have taken a bit of time.

"You can tell the thieves were rushing to get out of there in time when they heard the sirens as there were mobile phones all over the floor where they had dropped them in their haste." According to Mr Chequers his store gets broken into at least twice a year.

He said: "There is a huge market for illegal mobile phones. But these phones are instantly traceable. It's not just a matter of changing the sim cards as soon as the phone is used it is logged on to the network and it can be traced."

Witnesses or anyone who has been approached in relation to the sale of undocumented mobile phones should contact Detective Constable Debi Ellender at Swindon Police on 528111.