STAFF and customers at Smiths Newent Auctions were in for a very unpleasant shock when they arrived at the salerooms on the morning of the April 30th sale. They found that the salerooms had been broken into in the early hours of the morning by a gang who had broken down the massive Victorian church doors by pulling them off using a stolen four wheel drive and a chain.

Staff at Smiths believe there were several witnesses and one member of the public reported seeing two offenders carrying property from the Old Chapel building in Culver Street and driving away into the centre of Newent. The jewellery cabinet and contents were stolen and although the sale went ahead that day there was no jewellery section and the auctioneers had to allow time for the police to finish their investigations. The incident happened at around 4.10am on Friday April 30th. Anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity in the area or who has any information on the incident should call Gloucestershire Police on 0845 090 1234, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting incident 136 of April 30th.