THE Farnworth community has rallied after burglars broke into a pet supplies shop in the early hours of Tuesday.

Two offenders, hooded up and wearing masks, forced their way into Nigel’s Pet Supplies on The Market Precinct at around 5.15am with a crowbar.

Owner Nigel Cain, who has run his business for 32 years, was woken by an alert on his phone, which warned him that the shop alarm had gone off.

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He quickly made his way over to his store and called the police.

Nigel, 53, from Farnworth, said: “When I was driving in I was hoping it was a false alarm.

“But then I saw my roller hanging off when I arrived.

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“The police came within 10 minutes.

“They stole a small amount of cash, and of course, helped themselves to what they could carry such as collars and leads.

“It is not about the value of the items taken, lots of damage was caused to the property.

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“They broke a steel gate at the back, a roller shutter and the PVC door to get in.

“I have no piece of mind about it now. I believed the shop was secure initially and I have wondered what I need to do to make it safe.”

Following the burglary, two of Nigel’s regular customers, Becky Wheeler and Nicky Wilson, set up a Justgiving crowdfunding page to help him pay for the repairs.

And more than £1,500 has been raised already.

Nigel said: “People have been absolutely fantastic.

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“I only found out about the crowdfunding page on Tuesday night after getting a message from a friend.

“I have been crying like a baby about it.

“Since 1988, I have been at four different developments in Farnworth and I have built up lots of customers in that time, whose family members have also come to the shop.”

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Nigel added that CCTV video was not able to show many details about the burglars other than they looked like two young men, possibly teenagers.

A Greater Manchester Police (GMP) spokesman said: “An investigation is underway and no arrests have currently been made.”If you have any information contact GMP on 101 or online quoting incident number 346 of February 23.

To visit the crowdfunding page click here.

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