The owner of a café which was broken into says he is grateful for the community’s help and support after it was ransacked.

Café Ri-An in Stanley Street, Accrington was broken into on Thursday night (September 7), leaving owner Sean Mason and his partner distressed when they came in on Friday morning.

Sean says there was ‘considerable damage’ and the cupboards had been emptied and money from the charity box was stolen.

Lancashire Telegraph: Screenshot from CCTV footageScreenshot from CCTV footage (Image: Sean Mason)

Describing the scene on the morning after the burglary, Sean said: “The burglars were looking for money so they’d emptied everything out. We don’t keep loads of money overnight, just some change that isn’t worth taking home so that had gone.

“We’re trying to turn it into a bit of a joke and we are calling them the bacon boys because they had stolen eight packets of bacon and three black pudding sticks.

“There was considerable damage but nothing of value was damaged. We accept these things might happen but my partner was obviously distressed to come in to an absolute shambles of a mess.”

Despite the break-in, Sean is thankful for the support they received from other businesses and customers.

CCTV footage from a local business shows two males walking down Stanley Street who are believed to have been involved in the break in.

He continued: “With the help of the local community we were back open within an hour so we haven’t been impacted by it too much.

“We were very, very busy on Friday, Saturday and Sunday so we assume people did come to support us and people were giving extra tips so the community really came together.

“Yes, it was a setback but we’re from Accrington, we don’t just sit back and let it get us down. We get back up and we carry on.”

Finch Bakery in Great Harwood, which is just 3.6 miles away, was broken into a few days after the Cafe Ri-An burglary.

Police said the burglary has been reported to them and is currently under investigation.

If anyone has any information, they are asked to contact Café Ri-An or the police.