Vandal gang hits market

Stallholders arrived back at work today to find windows and tills smashed at Spencers Market in Dudley.

Eight stalls were targeted by the thieves at the High Street building after breaking the glass door, setting off the alarms.

They then moved around the centre forcing open tills and taking small change.

Among the stalls targeted at the site was the butchers shop run by Neil Harvey, aged 45, who has worked at the market for 14 years.

He said: "It looks like they broke open the till by throwing it on the floor.

"There was just small change left in it.

"It's going to cost £200 to get a new one, which is £200 I don't particularly want to spend at the moment with trade being the way it is. It's just a nuisance."

Market manager Ray Wilkins said CCTV footage from a nearby jewellers showed someone entering the premises at around 2am on Sunday. The video has now been passed onto police.

He added: "It is a sign of the times. They didn't take any stock just caused a lot of damage."

West Midlands Police spokesman Zoe Coward confirmed police were called at 11am on Sunday morning.

Brambles Cafe manager Parnam Chahal, aged 44, who has been at the market for nine months said thieves had damaged two tills and broken the drinks machine.

He added: "They ransacked the place. They broke the pop machine which caused a huge mess. It was quite a shock when I first saw all of the damage."

Mr Wilkins added: "It's going to cost £1,000 just to repair they glass they smashed in the front doors.

"We've had people break windows before but never anything like this."