Brick-wielding youths smashed their way into a town centre shop before fleeing on their bikes with £2,000 of stolen cigarettes.

Carter’s Newsagents in Market Street, Faversham, was targeted by two thieves in the early hours of last Thursday.

Owner Jitendra Patel was furious when he arrived at the premises soon afterwards.

“I’m angry because I lost the cigarettes, my insurance is going high and I don’t know when the insurance company will pay me,” he said.

“I was at home at the time, and I got a call from the company that monitors my alarms at about 3.30am.

“There were big concrete bricks that had been thrown through the doors. They stole roughly two grand’s worth of cigarettes.”

Mr Patel says the incident was caught on the shop’s CCTV.

He saw the culprits, who he believes are teenage boys, break into the cigarette cabinet with screwdrivers, before filling up Aldi shopping bags with their loot.

The store was raided twice in two weeks by burglars in February 2018. Mr Patel is vowing to protect the business from further break-ins.

“We can’t see their faces on the CCTV because they were wearing hoodies and face masks,” he said.

“They were also wearing gloves, so we can’t get the fingerprints.

“I’ve spoken to the council and they said we aren’t allowed to put shutters on the front or the back of the shop because it’s a listed property.

“I’m going to put some heavy metal bars behind the door to secure it a bit more.”

Police have confirmed they were called to Carter’s Newsagents to a report of a burglary at 3.05am last Thursday.

A spokesman says officers are continuing their investigation into the break-in by carrying out forensic analysis and CCTV checks.

Anyone with information is urged to call 01795 419119, quoting 46/75935/21.

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