BURGLARS who broke into Brampton Parish Hall before getting away with around £1,000 in cash aren’t just stealing from the parish council but also the whole community, according to its chair.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, police were alerted to reports of a burglary at the parish hall on Knollbeck Lane.
It has been reported that two men forces entry into the premises and stole cash from a safe inside.
Brampton Parish Council chairperson, Stephen Creswell, told the Chronicle that the attack was seemingly targeted.
He added: “At around 1am two guys were seen walking on the roof of the parish council.
“Luckily, the night manager at the care home across the road saw them going down the back and reported it to the police.
“The police missed them by about a minute and they came really quickly.
“What happened is that they broke in through a side door, jammed it open and came into the parish hall.
“They seemed to know where they were going - they knew where the safe was and even I don’t know where the safe is.
“So they’ve tried to kick a glass door in which had wire mesh in it, jammed the safe off the wall and took it.
“The interesting thing is that they knew exactly where they were going.
“They didn’t head to the bar where there’s loads of alcohol and they didn’t go into the office.
“I personally feel that it’s something who knew exactly where it was.”
It is the latest in a string of burglaries in the area.
“We have CCTV - the CCTV has gone over to the police, so the police have got the CCTV,” he added.
“These two guys were wearing balaclavas and hoodies, and so you can’t recognise them really.
“I’ve heard yesterday that over the past few months, we’re not the only ones that have been targeted.
“The Middle Cafe was targeted, the Miners’ Welfare was targeted, so we’re the last one of the bigger places around there, I think.”
Stephen said it’s not only the council that’s been affected - it’s the whole community.
“Luckily there’s not a lot of damage,” he added.
“There was approximately about £1,000 in there.
“But the money they’ve taken is not actually parish hall money - it’s the parishioners’.
“It’s not us really that they’re stealing from - it’s the parishioners themselves that they’re stealing from because it was their money.
“it’s all the work you have to do after, like contacting the insurance company, filling out all the insurance forms.
“It wasn’t a huge amount of money.
“The door will be fixed but then we’re looking at the possibility of adding more shutters to the building which is a real shame.
“It’s frustrating that we’ve now got to do all this extra work to get it up and running again, but on the upside, I suppose, thank God they didn’t do any major damage in the hall itself.”
A police spokesperson told the Chronicle: “Officers attended and completed a search of the premises and the area but did not locate any suspects.
“Enquiries are ongoing. If you were in the area at the time of the incident and saw anything suspicious, or have any information that could aid our investigation, please get in touch online or by calling 101, quoting incident number 49 of May 26.”
