POLICE are appealing for witnesses and information after a hooded youth smashed the front door of Poole’s Daily Echo office.

The criminal damage took place around 11.50pm on Friday night after a youth scaled the railings from the George Roundabout to target the newspaper office.

Police have obtained CCTV footage from the Dolphin Centre, which shows a youth leaping over the railings.

“At the moment we have no suspects,” said PC Dave Rae from Poole Police Station. “If anyone wants to come forward with any information we would be grateful.”

Staff arrived at the office just outside the Dolphin Centre on Saturday to find the door smashed, glass all over the floor and a lump of stone under a desk.

The office was unable to open to the public as police investigated the scene and staff cleaned up the mess.

“We apologise to our customers that have been inconvenienced by this incident,” said classified manager Angela Boyer.

“Although the door will be boarded up we will be open as normal on Monday. We hope our Find the Ball entrants will still be able to bring their entries in to us on Monday, or put them through the Bournemouth office door.”

The offender is believed to be male and looks to have attempted to disguise his face with a scarf as he deliberately targeted the office. The shop was not entered.

Police were intending to get hold of CCTV footage from the town centre cameras, as well as viewing that from the Dolphin Shopping Centre in a bid to identify the offender.

Anyone with any information should contact Dorset police on 101 or free and anonymous Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 quoting crime number 39144.