A £10,000 burglary has proved to be the final straw for a Tyldesley-based business who now vow to leave the town.

Allied Weldings Supplies on Shakerley Road has been targeted by vandals and thieves for the last 12 months, but never to this extent. On Saturday night youths knocked down a wall at the back of the premises, before forcing open the back door with a crowbar and stealing thousands of pounds worth of stock.

Director, Andy Murphy explained: "A neighbour saw a group of youths carrying out our computer at about 9pm, they phoned the police and when they arrived we were told they had already been out once at about 6pm when our alarm went off, but hadn't seen anything. This means the thieves had had a good two and a half hours of to-ing and fro-ing with our stock."

Despite having taken all necessary precautions -- shutters, a monitored alarm system and CCTV at the front of the building -- the thieves managed to steal power tools, hand tools and a computer, as well as damaging the brickwork of the wall and the door frame. The incident has also caused loss of earnings to the business.

Mr Murphy said: "There is nothing else we can do. It has been a catalogue of disasters, we've had a trailer tent stolen, a caravan vandalised, all our windows smashed with bricks and now this. We are looking for new premises outside Tyldesley."

The company plan to continue trading and hope to return to Farnworth, where they originated. They offer a delivery service, so can continue supplying existing customers.