A BAND had £7,000 worth of limited edition and custom-made gear stolen by heartless thieves after playing a Boxing Day charity gig.

Four-piece Shooty and the Bang Bang had performed at the Robin Cancer Trust charity fundraiser, in V Bar, Colchester.

The ska band, based in the town, packed the kit - including limited edition Orange and Mesa Boogie amplifiers, a custom-shop Fender Stratocaster, three pedal boards and a bass guitar belonging to another band - into bassist Sam Fraser’s Vauxhall Estate, which was parked in St Mary’s car park, in Balkerne Hill, before attending an after show party.

Event manager Mr Fraser did not drive home the next day but returned a number of times before Thursday morning, when he discovered the gear had been taken. The band believe the thieves struck in the early hours of Thursday.

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The crooks had smashed the back window and also forced their way in through the rear passenger door.

Mr Fraser, 31, said: “They just got everything.

“It’s heart-breaking. To the regular person, it would have looked like an estate car with a sheet in the back seat.

“They must have smashed the back window first and realised they’d hit the jackpot and then gone in through the back door.

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“There were things there which are quite unique to our sound and lot of it is limited edition.

“Some of it is as rare as unicorns - honestly, you can’t buy some of it. That’s why we’re saying if this sort of stuff is for sale, it is definitely ours.

“They have taken our livelihood from us. We recorded our first EP last year and we had just started writing our debut album, which we wanted to launch this year.

“Now this feels like a permanent hiatus. To have a set-back this big can normally put you back in your seat and stop you getting up again. We want to avoid that.”

The band, which was formed at Colchester Institute, had not booked any shows until March.

The bassist, who lives in Bocking, added: “We thought we were being vigilant. St Mary’s has CCTV and it is, as far as I know, manned.

“It was a really busy time with people going shopping and people parking to go to the Mercury Theatre pantomime.”

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Essex Police was alerted to the theft and carried out forensic tests on the car.

Since bandmate and singer Jay Montgomery revealed the theft on Facebook it has been shared thousands of times.

Mr Fraser added: “The response has been heartwarming, for sure.”