£85,000 worth of gin and vodka stolen from North Yorkshire distillery
It happened at the weekend.
Thousands of bottles of gin and vodka have been stolen from a distillery near Catterick Garrison.
Owner Tony Brotherton discovered the break-in at Yorkshire Dales Distillery, which happened sometime between 5pm on Friday and 12.30pm on Sunday, when he arrived at the site on Sunday.
Around 5,000 bottles of alcohol were taken - worth around £85,000 - and equivalent to around six months' worth of stock.
Tony said: "I was rather shocked to find that the doors on three of our storage containers outside had been ripped open and the forecourt in front of the distillery was completely covered in debris. The third container had much of our stock in it, and all of that stock had been removed.
"The timing couldn't be much worse. Traditionally, the early months of the year are very quiet for alcoholic beverage producers. Coming on the back of the pandemic where nobody's cash reserves are particularly high puts the business in a really difficult position."
In a statement, North Yorkshire Police said: "We're appealing for anyone who might have seen anything suspicious in the area on Friday night or Saturday to get in touch. We're also asking everyone to be on the look out for any of the products being sold in an unusual location or circumstances which don't seem right.
"Anyone with information should call 101."