AUDACIOUS "smash and grab" raiders have left five Bury stores counting the cost of a pre-Christmas crime spree.

In just six days, three town centre clothing shops and two electrical stores were targeted by the gang. All the premises hit are in the area of The Rock and in every case, cars were used.

Detectives say the same gang could have been responsible for all the raids.

The most spectacular incident was a ram raid at the Comet store at the Moorgate Retail Park when raiders reversed a stolen white Rover through a brick wall at the side of the main entrance. They loaded electrical goods into a second car which sped off, leaving behind the badly damaged Rover. It had been stolen from nearby Parsons Lane only minutes before Tuesday (November 11) night's raid.

A second electrical store, the Energy Centre in Union Street, just off The Rock, was raided at 7.55pm on Wednesday, November 12.

Two men smashed their way in through the front door, stole microwaves worth £1,100 before fleeing in a stolen Vauxhall Astra van. It was later recovered burned out in Crumpsall.

The same gang is also being linked to raids on three clothes shops, two next door to each other.

A week ago, robbers struck at the Smarty's clothes shop and stole children's designer wear worth £20,000. They escaped in a Volkswagen Golf.

Shocked owner Karen Hodgkiss said: "I can't believe this happened. They cleaned us out. I ploughed money into the opening of this new business." On Sunday night, raiders struck next door at the Phileas Fogg clothes shop and stole designer gear believed to be worth thousands of pounds. Again, the thieves escaped by car.

The following evening, three men forced the shutters of the Cicco clothing store on The Rock before escaping with a large amount of stock. They escaped in a white hatchback-type car.

Cicco director, Mr Sharb Quereshi said it was the fourth raid on the business and could force the company to move.

Claiming newly-installed closed circuit TV cameras on The Rock still weren't operational, he added: "We don't want to be driven out of business because of these attacks. But we can only take so much."

Det Sgt Mick Baker of Bury police said the same gang could be responsible for all five raids.

"There are a number of similarities in these attacks," he said. "These are part of a series of burglaries on such shops. They aren't peculiar to Bury, but throughout Greater Manchester."

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