Action Hero Parties owner slams thieves who broke into his shop for damaging Worksop's independent businesses

David Graham, owner of Action Hero Parties, which also holds superhero-themed parties for children in the area, was in for a nasty shock when he let himself into the Bridge Street store on the morning of Wednesday, January 24.

He discovered that intruders had smashed a padlock and forced their way into the shop, making off with Star Wars toys and an Xbox 360- and leaving a mess that took days to clean up in their wake.

David, who had to stop trading for two days due to the incident, said: “Maybe these people are looking for anything they can sell for cash to make a fix, or possibly they do it just for the kicks. Either way acts of mindless burglary, theft and vandalism has more of an effect on small businesses than some might think.

“Small high street shops are already struggling in today’s economy with high rents, business rates and utility bills.

“But they are also having to deal with high insurance policies due to the fact that some people don’t see theft as not an issue. They think insurance companies will just pay out for any damages and loss.

“What these people don’t realise is that most of the time the burglary and theft doesn’t cover the excess on the insurance policy, which has to be met by the business owner. Adding to this, insurance will then increase the next year, putting even more stress onto the small business.”

Despite his anger, David said he felt “fortunate” the thieves had not broken in before Christmas, as they would have found dozens of toys he had collected ready to send off to a charity toy appeal.

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said: “We are investigating a report of a burglary at a shop in Worksop.

“It happened at the Action Heroes Parties store in Bridge Street between 6.30pm on Tuesday, January 23 and 9am on Wednesday, January 24.”

Anyone with any info is asked to call on 101, quoting incident number 161 on January 24.