The Retreat in Brockenhurst, and The Ferryman and Rosie Lea House in Lymington hit by raiders

A STRING of New Forest businesses were targeted in break-ins in one night.

Cafes and pubs were among those hit across Lymington and Brockenhurst on Monday night, with items stolen ranging from cash to a tray of home-made sausage rolls.

The Retreat co-owners Fleur McCarthy and her fiancé Paul Mortimer were shocked to discover an intruder had raided their Brockenhurst café.

Paul arrived at the premises on Lyndhurst Road to discover glass in the front door had been smashed in.

Broken glass littered the inside, cupboards and drawers had been left open, and a small amount of money had been snatched.

CCTV captured the trespasser ransacking the café shortly after 4am on Tuesday morning.

“The funniest part of it was that he left with a whole tray of Paul’s famous homemade sausage rolls, so he was obviously a hungry burglar,” Miss McCarthy told the A&T.

“As with any burglary, it’s horrible – the invasion of privacy and the fact that someone has been inside your place without permission.

“It’s made me at least quite nervy when customers have been coming in and out during the day.”

For Miss McCarthy, the incident also brought back memories of her Dibden being burgled seven years ago.

She added: “You just think, why should someone just come in and go through all your stuff when you work so hard to make things nice for people?”

She believed it would be “coincidental” if the same offender was responsible for the other raids.

“If he was taking high-value items I would think this was a to-order thing, but it seems he was just taking stupid items,” she said.

A safe containing cash and related items was ripped from the wall of an office at The Ferryman pub on Undershore Road in Lymington that night.

Manager Robert Smith told the A&T a back door had been kicked in to gain entry, but no attempt was made to enter the locked bar area.

“It’s upsetting when you think somebody else has come into your premises overnight,” Mr Smith said.

“It’s also concerning because we have residents in the building – someone lives in the pub.

“He seemed to know exactly what he wanted and he must have had the right tools to rip that safe from the wall because it was bolted on very securely.”

Rosie Lea House tea rooms on Southampton Road was also hit.

A post on its Facebook page said: “Unfortunately Rosie Lea House was broken into last night.

“We have reported this to the police and are working through our CCTV footage to pass this to the police.

“Anyone in our local area please be vigilant in case they come back to our area.”

The A&T has so far received confirmation from police that it is investigating the raid at The Retreat, but no connection with other businesses was confirmed.

Those with information should contact the force online at hampshire.police.uk or call 101.

Crimestoppers can also be contacted anonymously at crimestoppers-uk.org or on 0800 555 111.