A FAMILY butchers has been devastated by a burglary in which £10,000 worth of meat was stolen.

Cam Family Butchers, in Phillimore Road, was burgled in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Doors were ripped out of their frames, tills and scales were smashed and vast quantities of meat were stolen.

Around £700 in cash was also taken and the damage could cost in the region of £4,000 to repair.

Mark Carr, owner of the butchers, said: "We are absolutely mortified and gutted. It a terrible thing to happen at this time of year.

"So much of the shop has been damaged. But we hope to be open tomorrow or as soon as we can."

The burglary comes at a time when the shop was trying to prepare all of its Christmas orders.

Although much of Mr Carr's stock has been stolen he says he will complete every order.

"It is going to be tough and we will work day and night if we have to but we will get all the orders done. We ask people to bear with us and not to panic."

If anyone saw anything suspicious around Phillimore Road, between 4pm on Monday and 6am on Tuesday, contact police on 08045 090 1234 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting incident 55/18th December.