Exertis warehouse burgled

Police appealing for information after 170 iPhones and 380 Samsung Galaxys stolen from distie's Lancashire warehouse

Thieves have stolen more than 500 iPhones and Samsung Galaxys from Exertis' Altham warehouse, Lancashire Police have confirmed.

Three offenders forced entry through a window and made off with the goods in the early hours of Monday 1 February, according to a statement issued yesterday.

Some 170 boxed iPhone 6Ss and 380 Samsung Galaxy S5 Neos were taken in the raid, which occurred the night after two men were disturbed near the premises.

The burglary comes ahead of Exertis' planned move to a larger National Distribution Centre in Lancashire, beginning later this year.

DS Melissa Kelly from East CID urged anyone who has been offered either of the models to contact the force.

"We are conducting enquiries in the area and we are keen to hear from anyone who has any information that could assist with our ongoing investigation," she said.

"Two males were disturbed near to the premises the previous evening and we believe this could be linked to the burglary. If anyone witnessed any suspicious activity nearby then please get in touch."

It is not the first example of a raid on distributor's warehouse in recent times, with Target Components the subject of a burglary in 2014 that saw crooks take £300,000 worth of servers, laptops, monitors and motherboards.