Thieves steal over £1,000 worth of valuable teddies in smash and grab at popular Skegness store

Staff arrived at Spalls of Skegness in Lumley Road yesterday to find glass across the entrance and a shelf of valuable Steiff bears gone.

Photos of the smash and grab were posted on Facebook with a plea for people to beware if they are offered any of the bears.

Sharon Kilner, who owns the store with her husband Peter, posted: “If anyone gets offered any Steiff teddies we’ve had a window smashed in the night,

“Well over £1000 worth stolen.”

Today she told the Standard: “When we shut up shop at 5pm on Wednesday night everything was fine but we came back on Thursday morning to find this.

“The windows are reinforced glass and thieves used a brick to smash the window - you can see two or three places where they tried.

“Police are checking the CCTV because we believe about 15 bears were taken and they must have carried them in bags or had a car because they couldn’t have carried them otherwise.

“It’s been quite a blow for us because with the bad weather the season has been quiet so far and we still have stock to pay for.

“Hopefully, things will pick up for Easter.”

Spalls is a popular family-run business that generations of visitors to Skegness will have enjoyed over the years.

The current owners have a trading history of over 20 years, selling quality affordable gifts and collectibles.

The Facebook post was shared by hundreds of people with many messages of support for the owners.

Kim Snoshill commented: “How disgusting! Hope they get caught and made to pay back every penny- need naming and shaming too!”

Sharon commented: “I can’t believe how many people shared the Facebook post.

“Hopefully, someone out there knows something and can help the police.”

Anyone with information about the crime should call police on 101, quoting incident number 69 of 15/03/18.