By Emily Roberts and Tim Birkbeck

THE owners of a village shop have been left devastated after masked thieves raided their store during the night and stole £10,000 worth of cigarettes. 

Suki Sukarnan discovered that his family run business, Old Barn Stores, in Yew Tree Lane, North Waltham, had been targeted by thieves after receiving a call from a neighbour last Thursday morning. 

The 36-year-old father-of-two, who also runs a shop in Upton Grey, told The Gazette: “They broke in during the night and broke in the front door and then they took £10k worth of cigarettes and a cabinet. They tried to open the shutters but they wouldn’t open so they took the whole thing.

“I was really shocked. I couldn’t believe they took the whole cabinet.”


Neighbours of the store heard the commotion when they were woken by a crash as the thieves entered the premises. 

Adele Stevenson, who lives in Popham Lane, heard something hit a lamppost, and said: “I went out to look and saw a silver car parked right up close to the store door and there was a lot of banging and crashing.”

The 42-year-old added: “The thieves were wearing balaclavas and piled into the car before spreading off. I know the store has CCTV so hopefully the police will be able to find these people who have attacked this independent store. 

“The police were on the scene really quickly and the officers said they had just come from another attempted break-in, in Overton.”

Customers of the store have offered their support to Mr Sukarnan and his family, who have run the shop for eight years, by vowing to buy their shopping at his convenience store. 

A post on the North Waltham village Facebook page said: “Let’s do what North Waltham does best and pull together as a village and fully support Suki and his family.”

Ms Stevenson said: “Everyone in the village knows the family which run the shop and want to help them find the people who have done this to them. 

“As an independent store this is their livelihood and to have such a significant amount stolen must be devastating for them.”

Mr Sukarnan temporarily relocated the shop on Monday to a premises in Popham Lane, whilst a planned six-month refurbishment is carried out at the Yew Tree Road property. 

He said the loss of £10,000 will seriously affect his business, adding: “It’s a lot of money to lose. It’s not a small amount. It’s a bad thing to do and I don’t know why they do it. I work really hard seven days a week for my family and these people come and steal things in three minutes.”

Hampshire Constabulary confirmed the break-in happened between 12.10am and 1.20am. 

The thieves gained access to the store by forcing open the front door, before stealing the cigarette cabinet. 

Police confirmed that two other shops were targeted on the same night, in Kings Worthy and Bordon, and investigations are ongoing to establish if the incidents are linked. 

Anyone with information should call police on 101 quoting 44160347834.