Warning after break-in at Preston business

Lee Petts, managing director at 52M Consulting in Preston, had his first holiday in five years disrupted by a break-in at his firm's premises in the early hours of Sunday, June 3.

CCTV shows a lone intruder smash his way through one of the entrance windows before throwing a brick through an internal window to gain access to the ground floor space behind a locked door.

He is then seen running upstairs where he kicked his way through another window to access the first floor offices at the communications consultancy.

Mr Petts said: "The offender was in the building for just three minutes, but still managed to cause thousands of pounds worth of damage and unnecessary stress for myself and colleagues.

"Strangely, it appears he took nothing of value, leaving behind a number of laptops and even a brand-new £600 drone camera along with VR headset and original packaging.

"Judging by the mess, it seems he was more interested in files, but our information security protocols mean there was nothing of interest available.

"We thought ours was a pretty secure building, with CCTV, modern alarm system and internal doors fitted with keypad locks and security windows, but this just shows how a career criminal can make light work of your defences. I would recommend that other local businesses consider beefing-up their security arrangements."

Crime Scene Investigators attended and collected physical evidence, and the intruder was captured on the firm's CCTV recording system.

Police confirmed they were investigating reports of a burglary at the property.

No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information that might help to identify the suspect and assist the police in its investigation is encouraged to contact Lancashire Police on 101, quoting log reference 0257 03/06/2018, or by calling Crimestoppers on 0800555111.