Burglars stamped a hole through the corrugated tin roof of South Derbyshire DIY and garden store Masseys before raiding £3,000 worth of goods in what was the store's first crime in more than 25 years of trading.
"They must have been built like Spider-man, or somehow manoeuvred a ladder through the roof into the store," director Peter Massey told DIY Week.

"They climbed or swung along the top racking to avoid the floor detectors and took all the high-priced items as well as turning all the interior security cameras around. This was clearly planned."

Two Husqvarna and three Hitachi hedge trimmers, a Flymo garden vacuum and five grass trimmers were among the items passed up through the hole in the roof during the January 18 raid. The alarm was only raised once the thieves dropped down to the floor to break into the till.

"They stole around £100 in cash from the float," Mr Massey explained, "That's when the floor alarms went off. We got a call from the alarm company and rushed straight over."

The business-owner estimates just a few minutes passed between the alarms going off and staff reaching the premises, and is sure the thieves were only just making their escape by the time they arrived at around 9.20pm.

When asked whether he agreed with the BRC's recent crime report showing a decrease in retail burglary numbers, Mr Massey replied: "On a personal level, no I wouldn't agree. And I think retail burglary is set to get worse because people have no money and are turning to crime."

Mr Massey added he believed the crime could be related to two other burglaries, which struck neighbouring businesses just 24 hours before. Local press reported £14,000 worth of spectacles and £700 from a charity collection were stolen from Specsavers on the High Street in Swadlincote on January 17. A steel stockholder was also reportedly broken into the same night.

Family-run Masseys is currently undergoing a security overhaul, with extra detectors going in and replacements being made on the roof, where the detectors failed to go off during the night of the raid.

The firm won't be going overboard with new measures, however, as plans are underway to move to £2 million new premises within the next 12 months.

Mr Massey urged anyone with any information about the burglary to contact the business or Swadlincote Police on 101.