THE owners of a family-run store in Cheriton Bishop are appealing for witnesses who may have seen anything suspicious, after a major theft of meat from their premises last month.

A vast quantity of beef, lamb, lamb shank, pork and gammon was stolen from Checkers Post Office and Stores on Saturday, August 22.

Owner Maria Deredas said she felt annoyed and disappointed that somebody would steal from her shop.

She said: 'We were very busy on that Saturday morning, which proves it happens when you are busier rather than quiet.

'We have a chiller section in the stores where we do fresh meats and I went over to check it and fill it up. It was then that I realised it was stripped bare.

'I have a feeling it may have been more than one person because of the quantity of meat taken — whoever did it must have just put it in a bag and walked out of the shop.'

Mrs Deredas said at first she was upset, but emotion soon turned to anger.

She said: 'It puts a mockery on all the hard work that we all do here.

'The shop opens from 6am till 9pm, seven days a week, but we put in a lot of hours in between.

'In this day and age and with a small shop like ours, which has to compete with all the larger supermarkets nearby, it's an awful thing to happen.

'We do have eight CCTV camera's in the shop, but I couldn't see exactly how it was done.

'With the quantity that was stolen, I believe it was a planned thing.'

Mrs Deredas said she would appreciate any information people have.

She added: 'When my customers come in, if they do see anything, it would be great if they could come and have a quiet word with me or a member of staff, because we don't want whoever did this to come back again.'

A police spokesman said: 'This kind of crime is unusual and thankfully very rare.

'I would urge that if anybody has been offered the sale of any meat, they should be suspicious and contact the local police in Crediton with any information they have.'

Anyone with information can call Crediton police on 01363 777010.