£10,000 damage after Walsall restaurant raid

Raiders forced their way into a new restaurant in Walsall, escaping with a haul of cash and causing more than £10,000 of damage.

Smokey's only opened two months ago and hit the headlines after laun-ching one of the biggest burgers in Europe.

Vandals smashed the till, gambling machine and purpose-made jukebox during the raid. They stole around £2,000.

Chairs were flung and cleaning fluid sprayed across the premises, which was forced to close yesterday for a clean-up operation. Bosses vowed not to be beaten and hop-ed to start trading again from their Stafford Street venue by lunchtime today.

They discovered the break-in at around 9.30am.