WATCH: £5,000 stolen in raid on Tipton business
Thieves got away with up to £5,000 when they stole a safe during a raid on a travel firm.
Basharat Khan has been left counting the cost of the break-in at Aqib Currency Exchange in Tividale Road, Tipton. The firm was targeted again this week, but this time the would-be intruders failed to get in and left empty-handed.
The raiders managed to prise the safe away from a wall inside the premises before placing it into a wheelie bin outside as they made their getaway.
WATCH: CCTV shows suspected burglars
They were captured on CCTV and the footage has been passed to the police, who have launched an investigation.
The business was targeted first on January 22 before the second attempt on Tuesday.
Mr Khan arrived to find his office ransacked and the safe gone.
He said: "They spent an hour and a half breaking into the steel shutters. The safe was bolted to a wall, they damaged the wall to get to the safe.
"I opened the shutters and one of the barbers from next door saw it and said 'what's happened?' The wall was damaged and the drawers of the desk were all over the place.
"Then in the early hours of Tuesday they tried to get through the roof."
The business owner said he had stepped up security measures after being targeted twice in two weeks.
He added: "There are more steel doors in place, more alarm sensors and increased CCTV.
"There needs to be more protection around here because this is a bad area."
Inquiries ongoing
A West Midlands Police spokesman said: "Police were called to a burglary at Aqib Currency Exchange, Tividale Road, Tipton, which is believed to have happened sometime between 1.20am and 9.10am on January 22.
"Burglars managed to gain access to the premises and made off with a safe containing cash.
"CCTV has been recovered and inquiries are ongoing.
"Officers also received reports of an attempted burglary at the same location just after 2.30am on Tuesday. They failed to gain entry to the premises.
"Anyone with information can contact us via Live Chat at west-midlands.police.uk between 8am and midnight, call 101 anytime or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting 20SW/17952T/19 for January 22 or 20SW/29922A/19 for February 5."
