BUSINESSES on a Weston industrial estate have fallen victim to a wave of break-ins and burglaries - but one boss says he felt ‘sick’ to see thieves had ignored valuable stock and stolen only a charity box.

Ollie Marshall, branch manager for Denmans Electrical Wholesalers, in Lynx Crescent, said the building was broken into at 8.20pm on November 1.

He said: “We have about �74,000 of stock here, including lighting and heating equipment, showers, and cables and the only thing they took was our charity box which had �5 in it.

“It’s a double edged sword, in a way it was good because our stock wasn’t taken, but it was the lowest of the low to take our charity tin. I think it was opportunist thieves and, in my mind, it’s sick.”

Police are currently investigating four burglaries and three break-ins on commercial buildings in Winterstoke Road, Lynx Crescent and Oldmixon Crescent between November 1-2.

Cash, tools and a small amount of tobacco was stolen from four of the buildings.

Mr Marshall said the window of his building was smashed, by someone throwing a brick through it.

He said: “We also found out our next door neighbour was broken into on the same night and one of our customers said (builders’ merchants) Jewson had the same problem.”

Geoff Luxton, manager of the Winterstoke Road branch of Jewson, said: “We had a break-in early in the morning of October 31. Someone stole the lead off our roof.”

Mr Marshall said he believes reduction in street lighting hours - a new council move to save money - does little to help keep criminals away.

He said: “After the incident, I stayed on site until 12.30am and all of the lights on the industrial estate were switched off. The estate was in total darkness, which is not good. I know the council has to save money but there are a lot of valuables on the estate and there is the safety aspect to think about.”

Police would like to hear from anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the area on November 1-2. Anyone with information can contact the police by calling 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.