Police are investigating the third burglary at cafes in Bradford on Avon in the space of a month.

Thieves stole £300 worth of stock including cakes, sweets and fizzy drinks from the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust cafe on May 4, along with £320 from a safe.

This follows a previous raid on the cafe on April 7 as well as a third raid at Granny Mo’s, which is also on Canal Wharf, on the same night.

Barbara Froggatt, manager of the canal trust cafe, said police believe the suspects could be drug addicts.

She said: “Since this happened we have consulted a security expert and we have taken a number of steps to improve things, which were put in place on Monday.

“This last burglary happened just after we had restocked, so there were cakes in Clingfilm on display all ready for when we opened on the Wednesday, as we don’t usually open on a Monday or Tuesday.

“They took whole cakes, all the ones that hadn’t been cut into, cans of fizzy drink, like Coke, and sweets.

“The police told me that it could be drug addicts who are looking for sweet things.

“They also took a few hoodies with Kennet and Avon Canal Trust written on them and the police said this might have helped them look more official if anyone had seen them.”

Mrs Frogatt said among the security measures they have taken to guarantee they are not targeted again is an alarm which gets continuously louder when a thief is inside the building, until it becomes unbearable to the human ear.

She said this alarm also takes pictures and would capture images of the back door, which was prized open by the thieves when they broke in.

They have also taken measures to secure the outside of the premises with a padlock and a new fence.

Mrs Frogatt said: “We had no stock on the Wednesday but we had to open as usual. I had to close the shop on Thursday and restock.”

Last time the cafe was targeted by thieves. about £1,500 was taken along with crisps, sweets, a laptop and charity boxes.

Sergeant Neil Berrett, of Bradford on Avon Police, said: " I am aware that although this is not a common offence in Bradford, this is the third such offence in this area in a month. As such, I am sure someone will know the identity of the offender.

“We are very keen to hear from anybody who knows anything about the offence and anyone who saw anything that they think might help.

“All information will be treated in confidence and people have the option of calling crimestoppers.

“While we are awaiting forensic results we continue to work with partners to try to reduce and detect these offences."

Anyone with any information can call police on 0845 408 7000.