Criminals steal £16,000 of equipment from Studley fishing shop

Studley man, Gary Mills has been left heartbroken after £16,000 worth of fishing equipment was stolen from his family business in Studley, The Mill Tackle.

During the early hours of the morning on Friday 8 September, three men aged between 18-25 years wearing black hoodies and trainers forced open the metal shutters at the front of the shop in order to gain access.

Amongst items stolen were twenty-three reels which took ten weeks to make, a number of vintage rods and reels, including three sentimental centre pin reels with Mr Mill’s name engraved on, which he was planning on passing down to his young grandson.

After forty years of business, Mr Mills is still in deep shock, telling The Herald: “All of my hard work has been lost. This has made things very difficult for myself and my family.

"All of my turnover is lost until the insurance company come up with a figure; but, if the money doesn’t arrive soon, I’m worried that the business could be in a great deal of financial difficulty.

"Not only am I upset about the money that’s been lost, but about the sentimental value that some of those items had to me, especially the three centre pin reels that I was one day, hoping to pass down to my grandson.”

A similar situation occurred two years ago at Alcester Sports and Tackle shop when over £10,000 worth of fishing equipment was stolen, leaving 71-year-old Alan Stephens in a similar situation, fearing that he would have to close his business down.

Anyone who witnessed or heard any suspicious activity during the early hours of the morning on Friday 8 September should contact Warwickshire and West Mercia Police on 101, quoting incident number: 68.