Tops hair Salon ram-raided by stolen car

WILTSHIRE Police is appealing to anyone who saw or heard any suspicious activity in the town centre in the early hours of the 9th December following a ram-raid at Tops Hair Salon.

Over £1,000 worth of hair products were stolen from the family-owned hair and beauty salon on the High Street at around 3.45am when a car reversed into the shop window.

Alex Stevens, office manager said, “I had a phone call from the police at 4am on Friday morning who said there had been a burglary at the salon. I assumed they had broken in through the door, I never thought something this dramatic would happen!

“Luckily there is a lot of CCTV around so we could quite clearly see what happened. The car was apparently stolen from an elderly couple in Wiltshire Crescent, then they drove through the town, around the roundabout near Gompels and back down the high street. They then slowly reversed onto the pavement outside the salon and then rammed the back of the car into the shop, smashing the window.

“We were worried that they might have smashed the whole place up because then we wouldn’t have been able to open the next day, but luckily it was only the front of the salon that was affected.

“We are still quite shocked that it happened, but we are of course fortunate that we are all ok and no-one was hurt. Thank you to everyone for their messages.”

Also during the night,  tyres on a Freight Rover Metro, a Rover MGS, a Renault Clio, a Renault Kangoo, a Nissan 350Z, a Vauxhall Vectra, a Honda Logo Auto, a Hyundai i20, a Peugeot 206 and a Volkswagen Polo, all parked in Hampshire Place, were all slashed.

Wiltshire Police continued, “A Vauxhall Insignia parked in Devonshire Place also had its tyres punctured at some time between 4.30pm on 9th December and 11.30am on 10th December.

“At approximately 3.50pm on 10th December, we received a report that a man had walked onto the driveway of a home in Sangster Avenue and tried the door handle of a vehicle, as well the handlebars of a motorcycle. A pedal cycle located behind the vehicles on the driveway was then stolen.”

PC Charly Chilton said, “Following a spate of vehicle crime in Melksham, we will be carrying out high visibility patrols in the area over the coming days and nights.

“We would encourage residents to be mindful when parking vehicles and ensure you leave cars and motorbikes in well-lit areas where possible.

“Please also ensure vehicles are locked at all times and do not leave valuables inside – this can be seen as an invitation to opportunist thieves.

“This spate of crime over the weekend has no doubt inconvenienced a number of people who were only aware of the damage the following morning when they attempted to use their vehicles.

“We’d like to appeal to anyone who saw or heard any suspicious activity in the area, who has not already spoken to police, to please call us on 101. Any information you have may be crucial to our investigation.”