THIEVES smashed their way into a warehouse in Haslingden, ransacked the office and snatched the keys to a company van and made off with the vehicle and nearly £11,000 worth of electrical goods.

The burglars targeted Mainland Catering Equipment in Rakefoot overnight on Thursday, breaking into the premises through a ground floor window, prizing open cabinets and rifling through drawers.

The offenders stole the keys to a Mercedes Sprinter van worth £4,500. They found it filled with industrial cooking equipment, which had been left in the van following a pub clearance.

John Hardie, managing director at the firm, said it had been hit hard by the burglary.

He said: “There are 13 of us here. We’re a small but very busy business and we’re still counting the costs.

“One of the lads noticed we were one van short in the morning. Then we came in and saw all the glass on the floor and cabinet doors which they’d tried to rip open.

“They stole a pack of cookies from a drawer and broke one of our staff’s glasses.

“It’s just not what you need when you’re a growing business.”

Inside the van was two electrical fryers, four microwaves, a grill, a double bowl sink, a dishwasher and stand, five work benches, a six burner range cooker, an electrical griddle, a convection oven, and a centre bench.

Sgt Mark Taylor, of Rossendale police, said: “It’s a message to anyone who works at any catering establishment - if you have any offers of these sort of items for cheap, call the police because they’re probably stolen.”

Anyone with any information on the incident should call police on 101.