Thieves steal money after breaking into amenity trust offices

Thieves broke into the Lerwick offices of Shetland Amenity Trust sometime between Monday evening and Tuesday morning and stole small sums of cash.

Staff noticed there had been a break-in when they arrived at work at 8.30am on Tuesday and police were called in, spending most of the morning in the offices at Garthspool.

Trust deputy manager Alan Blain said a fire exit at the back of the building had been forced and the thieves “gone through most of the building, raking through drawers”. He said most of the damage had been to cupboards and appeared to have been primarily looking for cash. “We don’t carry a lot of cash, so it was just small sums of petty cash that were taken,” he said.

Most of the damage caused had been to cupboards, he said, and there had been no obvious damage to any computers or other IT equipment.

He said it was clear that the criminals had spent “quite a bit of time” going through the building and it seemed they had been fairly well prepared for the job because the fire exit appeared to have been forced open using a crowbar. “I suppose these things happen, but the staff were pretty cheesed off about it,” Mr Blain added.

Police officers said they were pursuing “certain lines of inquiry” and are asking for anyone with information to contact them at Lerwick police station on (01595) 692110.

The building is a former ice factory which was converted by the amenity trust and has housed its staff since 2002.