Thieves steal £25k worth of stock from Preston business

Fayz Moussa arrived at his business, Tasty Vape on Aqueduct Street, on Saturday morning to discover the break in after thieves forced a door at the rear of his shop.

He says he entered the building to find that most of his stock had been cleared from the shelves leaving him with little to sell.

And the devastated business owner has revealed he has been forced to let his staff member go following the burglary as he is no longer able to pay his wage.

Mr Moussa, who had only recently moved into the premises, is now appealing for information about the theft and for other vaping business owners to look out for the thieves.

The 34 year-old said: "I feel so violated - I have no energy left and no drive. I don't know how I'm going to carry on with my business. I am not sleeping, we are all very scared.

"I walked into the shop that morning to find it empty. I realised we had been broken into. They basically took anything that had any value. e-cigarette mods, tanks and other items.

"It's nearly finished me off. I've had to let my staff member go, I just can't afford to pay him any more.

"It's going to be a real struggle to continue. I just don't know if I'm going to be able to save my business."

The shop owner is now appealing for members of the public to keep their eyes open for large amounts of vaping stock that may be offered to other vaping businesses and is offering a £5,000 reward for information that leads to the return of his stock.

Police confirmed they were investigating reports of a theft from the business.

A spokesman for the police said: "We received reports of the break-in at the shop with intruders making their way in at the rear.

"They made off via the same route. They stole a large number of electrical items."

Nobody has been arrested in connection with the incident.