Ram raiders demolish service station frontage

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Newtownards police have appealed to the public for information, relating to a smash and grab raid, in which a car was crashed into a garage shop at Portaferry Road in the town.

The car, thought to be stolen, was driven into the Mace Shop at Freeman's Service Station (Park View Service Station) on Tuesday morning, causing extensive damage to the premises.

The occupants of the car are believed to have taken a quantity of Lottery scratch cards, before driving away from the garage.

A report of a vehicle on fire at Portaferry Road was made at around 4.10 am. The fire was extinguished, and a number of items found convenient to the car were recovered by police.

They are linking it to the incident at the service station, a short distance away.

A worker at Freeman's Mace Service Station confirmed to the Chronicle that the smash and grab was not an ATM ram raid, as was rumoured earlier in the week.

The worker said that the garage ATM machine was untouched during the incident. Strangford MLA Jonathan Bell condemned those responsible.

He said: "I dearly hope that those responsible for this wanton destruction were not from the Newtownards area.

"Ram raiding is something we read about that happens in other town and cities, other countries for that matter, and has absolutely no place in today's society in Northern Ireland.

"The fact that the individuals involved clearly sat down to plan their adventure, that they went to the lengths of stealing someone's car, that they caused so much damage to the building, yet only escaped with a few items, illustrates just how pointless and futile this whole exercise was.

"It truly represents a lose/lose scenario for all involved.

"The raiders succeed only in stealing a few items and damage was caused which will have to be paid for. The customers at Freeman's will inevitably be inconvenienced also.

"I would, therefore, appeal to anyone who knows anything about this to contact the police immediately. It is inevitable, given the mindset of those involved, that they will let others know of their 'hi jinks' and I would encourage those people to inform the PSNI immediately.

"These muppets need to be brought to account."

Anyone who was in the area and who witnessed any suspicious activity, or anyone with any other information, is asked to contact police on 0845 600 8000.

The Crimestoppers charity can also be contacted anonymously on 0800 55 111.