THIEVES broke into a clothes recycling firm and stole £8,000 worth of clothing.

Police said a gang arrived at Cash 4 Clothes at Ainsworth Mill in Bury New Road, Radcliffe, in the middle of the night, cut their way through gates into the car park and then vandalised shutters.

They got into the shop and stole between seven and eight tonnes of clothing, which customers had sold to the shop.

Police believe the gang loaded the clothing on to a lorry or into the back of a transit van before fleeing the scene.

They stole the shop’s CCTV hard drive before leaving.

It happened at some point between 9pm on September 14, and 8am the next day.

A police spokesman said: “We’ve not encountered this kind of burglary before.Clearly, it is very difficult for people or businesses to protect their clothing as there are limited ways of marking or tracking them unlike other property.

“In this instance, the business owners did all that they could to protect their shop, but the burglars seemed to know what they were looking for.”

Call police on 101 with information.