A RA"AIDER caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to the shop front of Winfields in Haslingden and got away with footwear valued at £280 in a midnight attack.

The raider drove on to the car park off Blackburn Road just after midnight on Thurdsay in an F-registered light blue five-door Vauxhall Cavalier hatchback.

The man then reversed the vehicle into the steel shutters covering the entrance to the main footwear warehouse and demolished the shop front.

Damage is estimated at £3,000.

The building's alarm sounded and the raider managed to get away with only seven pairs of black Caterpillar boots from the foyer before fleeing the scene in the car.

Detective Sergeant Stuart Barlow said: "An eyewitness described the man as white, late teens to early 20s, 5ft 9ins, slim build, wearing a baseball cap, a dark sweatshirt and tracksuit bottoms with a light stripe on the side."

A spokesman said: "The car has smashed right into the entrance, but it did not stop us opening as normal.

"They damaged the roller shutters and also smashed the glass frame with the entrance doors in. We have our own on-site maintenance team who are repairing the shutters, but I think we may have to replace them.

"We have a separate entrance into the store so customers were able to use that to get in.

"There has been more damage caused than stock taken and it is the inconvenience of it all that is annoying."

She said staff who would normally be involved in preparing the store for opening and restocking shelves were instead involved in a major clean-up exercise checking all the footwear near to the front door for fragments of glass.

The store has been raided before when the outdoor clothing section was broken into, but the company has since taken extra security precautions.

The spokesman said: "We will be reviewing our security on that building and will be taking extra precautions. They are not going to get away with it again."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Rossendale CID on 01706 237442.