Police were today hunting serial thieves who made off with £14,000 from Superdrug in Billericay.

They were working with other officers in south Essex after it was revealed that several branches of the chemist have been targeted over the past few months.

In the latest break-in, burglars managed to removed the safe from the Superdrug store in High Street, Billericay. Almost £15,000 was stolen and £500 damage caused.

They also recently struck at the Canvey branch in Furtherwick Road and again made off with a safe.

Superdrug bosses are now working to step up security at all their stores in the area.

A spokeswoman said: "We confirm that a number of Superdrug stores in the Essex area have been broken into over the past few months.

"The most recent break-in took place in our Billericay store when a sum of money was taken from the safe.

"We have reviewed our security in this store and have introduced new measures.

"We are now actively working with the police to help them with their enquiries into these raids."

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.