AN EARLY morning burglary saw a Co-op raided for e-cigarettes - with the store taking to twitter to brand the culprits “naughty people”.

Burglars forced entry to the Wickford Co-op Food store, in High Street, at about 4.40am this morning. 

The store’s front door was damaged during the break-in, but repairs were carried out within hours this morning. 

No arrests have been made, and police enquiries are going.

Police say e-cigarettes were stolen during the incident, but did not add how many or the value of the items.

The store saw the humourous side, taking to social media to brand the culprits “naughty people”, as well as advising customers on damage to the site.

Co-op Wickford on Twitter posted: “We had some naughty people break into the store last night so our front door is currently not working.

“Never fear though, it should be up and running this morning, so all entrance and exit will be through our middle door.

“Apologies for the inconvenience.”

The store was not forced to close, and opened as usual on Friday morning.

A spokesman for the Co-op insisted the company take crime very seriously, and urged anyone with information to come forward.

He added: “There was an incident at our High Street, Wickford Co-op store in the early hours of Friday morning.

“The store opened as normal on Friday morning to serve the community.

“We take retail crime very seriously and implement a wide range of measures to deter criminal activity and aid convictions and we appeal for anyone with information to come forward to the police.”

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We were called to reports of a burglary, during which e-cigarettes were taken, at the Co-operative Food Store in High Street, Wickford.

“It is believed to have occurred at around 4.40am on Friday, January 18.”

Call Essex Police on 101 with any information.

Alternatively, to report crime anonymously call independent crime-fighting charity, Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111.