A car dealership near Bury St Edmunds has been left shaken after an overnight burglary saw thieves steal two high-value vehicles and a bag of car keys.
Nick Pope, owner of Prestige Vehicle Sales and Consultancy in Barrow, said he and his family have been left “on edge” after the 2.49am break-in on June 17, which Suffolk Police are now investigating.
“The showroom doors were hanging off their hinges,” Pope, who has run the business for nearly 30 years, told the Suffolk News. “Everything had been torn apart. We were targeted. For this to happen in a quiet village like Barrow – it’s left us very on edge.”
The burglars forced entry to the premises and escaped with a black Audi SQ8, a silver Audi A7, and a bag of car keys.
One of the stolen cars, the SQ8, was later recovered by police thanks to a tracker, which led officers to a disused barn in Burwell, near Newmarket through coordination between Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Police.
However, Pope fears the silver A7 may be lost for good. “It’s probably been stripped for parts,” he said. “But I’m still hopeful we’ll recover the bag of keys for our classic cars.”
The missing keys have created what Pope calls a “logistical nightmare” – leaving the dealership unable to move around a dozen of its classic British sports cars.
Since the incident, the dealership has ramped up its security with an upgraded alarm system and infrared CCTV to monitor the site at night.
Despite the ordeal, Pope remains determined. “We’re strong enough to survive this,” he said. “But it has been a very traumatic experience for all of us.”