THIEVES made off with four cars and tools worth thousands of pounds in five separate burglaries at a garage in Ferndown.

CCTV has captured the moment a Hyundai i10 and a Mini Cooper were stolen from Ferndown MOT centre in Library Road.

The burglary, which happened in the early hours of Saturday, July 1, was the first of a string of thefts and break-ins over the course of several weeks.

Angry manager Richard Cooper said a safe was also ripped off the wall, although it did not contain anything.

Dorset Police said they received a report of a second burglary on the morning of Thursday, August 3, in which a number of snap-on tools belonging to one of the mechanics were stolen.

Then, on Sunday, August 27, another burglary was reported just after 1am. “Officers attended and carried out a search of the area, but it is not clear if anything was stolen,” a spokesperson for the force said.

Just two days later, a blue Suzuki car was stolen from the garage. Police received a report of the burglary at around 8.30am.

A 24-year-old man, of no fixed abode, was arrested on suspicion of burglary for three of the incidents. He has been released under investigation.

The fifth burglary was reported on the morning of Friday, September 1, where a thief attempted to steal another car.

CCTV footage from the night before shows a man in jeans and a hooded top walking past a car parked outside the garage. A short time later he walks back towards the car, this time with his hood up, and gets into the vehicle via the passenger door. Meanwhile, a woman gets out of a car that has pulled up opposite and walks over to the man. As he begins to reverse out of the parking space, she goes to collect some bags from the other car, and she and two other passengers are all seen walking towards the man in the car.

Police say no-one has been arrested for the other two burglaries, but an investigation is ongoing into all five incidents.

“We’ve never had a spate of burglaries like this,” Richard said. “I’m very frustrated and angry that we’ve been targeted again and again.

“As well as stealing tools worth three or four thousand pounds, they’ve stolen several cars – some belonging to customers.

“We hope by sharing this CCTV, someone might recognise the people in the footage.”