Police appeal for information after popular Burnley business targeted by 'Hatton Garden' style raiders

Lancashire Police are investigating the raid at Burnley Auctioneers where raiders used an angle grinder or large drill to smash through interior walls to get to a safe.

The burglary was discovered on Tuesday morning when staff arrived for work at the Liverpool Road premises.

The break in echoes the raid in 2015 when an underground safe deposit facility in London's Hatton Garden area was burgled. Known as the 'largest burglary in English legal history' the £14M heist involved the burglars entering the premises through a lift shaft then drilling through walls using industrial power drills to get to the vault.

And last Saturday evening, just three days before the raid was discovered, two men were caught on CCTV pulling onto the forecourt of the premises in a white van before they threw two objects, later identified as bricks, through the window.

Joint owner Lee Bradshaw believes the two incidents may be connected.

The raiders made off with a quantity of cash from the safe after they used tools to remove the back of it.

It is believed the culprits gained access to the premises after sneaking into public toilets during an auction where they left a window open. A gap in fence was also discovered next leading from the Leeds Liverpool Cana onto the forecourt.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting incident reference 226 of June 11th.