THIEVES stole property worth hundreds of pounds from a group of footballing solicitors - while a team of detectives had a kick-about just yards away.

The crooks smashed their way into a changing room block at Blackburn's Witton Park and stole personal property from clothes belonging to a group of solicitors.

Cash, wallets, credit cards and mobile phones were taken and the nearby police officers were alerted almost straight away.

The solicitors work for Blackburn-based Forbes Solicitors and the incident took place on Wednesday evening.

A spokesman for Forbes said: "A team of our solicitors was playing a game of eight-a-side with a firm of local accountants on the all weather pitch.

"We started about 6pm and the game went on for an hour or so and when we went back to the changing rooms they had been broken into.

"Someone had kicked down the door, searched through our property and taken a number of items."

The spokesman added: "There was a team of officers from Blackburn CID playing nearby and we told them what happened.

"One or two of them came and had a look at the crime scene for us and they will be investigating the theft."

Police are appealing for any witnesses to contact them at Blackburn police station on 01254 51212.

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