Burglars have made off with more than £10,000 worth of goods from a family-run garage in Gastard near Corsham.

The burglary, which took place overnight between March 24-25, caused thousands of pounds worth of damage and resulted in expensive tools being stolen.

Owner of P & A Stutt, Phil Stutt, said: “I have been running this garage for 30 years and have never had anything of this scale happen to me before, we would get the odd bit of trouble and we had a break in at our work shop down the road 12 months but you don’t expect this in a small village like Gastard.”

The burglars forced open the back door open before unlocking the bolts on the inside and then smashing the office door to get to the safe, stealing £2,000.

A red snap on tool kit was also taken worth £2,000 and tools including steam cleaners and jacks as well as many other pieces of equipment.

He said: “It is very upsetting because we have built the business up over the years. It is very upsetting for this to happen to use but we have just got to carry on.

“I keep finding more and more things missing each day that I look for a tool. The insurance company will assess the damage and hopefully replace it all.”

Wiltshire Police are investigating the burglaryand are appealing for anyone with relevant information to come forward and call 0845 408 7000.