‘Catastrophic’ - £70,000 worth of vehicles stolen from a Hebburn business in an overnight ram-raid
Around £70,000 worth of vehicles have been stolen from a Hebburn business.
A Hebburn business owner has spoken of the “catastrophic” impact that an overnight ram-raid has had on the five-week-old organisation.
Thieves broke into Seven Competitions, on the Victoria Industrial Estate, at around 3am on Wednesday, May 27.
The shutter of the business has been severely damaged and two Sur-Ron bikes, a grey 2017 BMW M140i (FV17 DZW) and a blue Ford Focus RS (AF17 NRY) were stolen from the premises.
‘Totally catastrophic for us’
Ryan Connell, owner of Seven Competitions, has spoken about the impact that the incident is having on the new business and the outpouring of support the company has received from customers.
He said: “They’ve stolen two high performance bikes and two high performance cars, which totals at around £70,000 and they've left the business in an absolute state.
”We are only five weeks old and obviously something like this is totally catastrophic for us.
“People are absolutely gutted for us and they’ve been trying to spend extra money with us to try and help us out.
“We’ve had to refund all of the money relating to the stolen vehicles but everyone has been really supportive.
“We’ve been getting message after message about it.”
Seven Competitions has also taken to social media to urge anyone with CCTV footage, dashcam footage or information to contact them or the police immediately.
Police launch investigation
Northumbria Police have confirmed that they’ve launched an investigation into the incident, with a number early inquiries having already been carried out by officers.
A spokesperson for the Force said: “Just after 8.30am today (Wednesday), we received a report of a burglary at a premises in South Tyneside.
“It was reported that entry had been forced into a unit and a number of vehicles stolen on the Victoria Industrial Estate in Hebburn.
“Since the report was made to us, a number of enquiries have been carried out and an investigation has been launched to locate those responsible.
“Anyone with information should contact us online via direct message on social media, or submit a report form or live chat on our website.
“Those who are unable to contact us online, should call 101.
“Please quote the reference number: NP-20260527-0211.”