A GARAGE owner whose business has been targeted by burglars several times has expressed his anger after thieves stole a high-value car in the latest break-in.
Absar Armar, owner of A.M.A Motors in Chapel Street, Blackburn, has suffered four break-ins over the past year.
The latest incident saw offenders steal a £7,000 black Toyota Auris Hybrid from the outside of the garage.
Offenders had broken into the garage by cutting through a mesh gate at the front of the building, before stealing car keys, a laptop and two phones from an office.
They then stole the Toyota during the break-in which happened in the early hours of Monday morning (October 22).
Mr Armar, who has owned the auto repair shop for over two years, hit out at the lack of police action.
He believes a gang are operating a chop shop where parts from stolen cars are sold and called on police to clamp down on the issue.
Mr Armar, 44, said: “On this occasion they have cut through the mesh gate at the front of the building and stole car keys, a Lenovo laptop, iPhone 4S and Samsung from an office in the building.
“They have then taken the Toyota Auris Hybrid.
“This is quite a rare car and people can make a lot of money out of its parts.
“I believe they steal the cars and then chop the parts of and sell them.
“We’ve been targeted four times in the space of a year and when we contact the police, nothing is done about the problem.”
He said incidents have seen a Renault Megane stolen from the garage and later recovered, a till taken from the garage and a small amount of cash.
He added|:”I believe that different people have been involved in each break-in but that there is one person running it all.
Gulam Mehuddin, 66, of Buncer Lane, Blackburn, the owner of the stolen car which he took to the garage, said: “I’m devastated as I’ve only had the car for three weeks.
“I needed an automatic car as I had a stroke a few years ago which left me disabled.
“I believe the car was stolen to order.
“This incident was reported to the police but they don’t seem to be doing anything about it and couldn’t even assign out an officer.”
A police spokesman said: “We had reports that a Toyota Auris had been stolen during a break-in from a garage in Blackburn overnight on October 22.
“A laptop and car keys had also been taken.”
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