Thugs with crowbars and axes raid Colchester and Heybridge Co-ops

East of England Co-op stores in Colchester and Heybridge were hit five times between September last year and January this year.

The first incident came on September 1, when a masked suspect brandishing an axe entered a Co-op in Wood Road, Heybridge, before making off with up to £3,000.

Another Heybridge Co-op, this time in Lawling Avenue, was then targeted on October 6 shortly before 8pm by three armed men who took money and cigarettes.

One week later a branch in Old Heath Road, Colchester, was raided shortly before 9pm, again by three men, two of which were armed with weapons.

They ordered a staff member to hand over money while another was instructed to provide the crooks with packets of cigarettes.

Both members of staff complied, and the men left with items worth a total value of between £2,000 and £4,000.

They immediately fled the scene by running through Cavendish Avenue before getting into a car and driving off towards Barn Hall Avenue.

The following month, on November 17 at 6.25am, Co-op’s Lawling Avenue store again fell victim to a raid spearheaded by three thugs – two of which were armed.

Similar to the previous incidents, after threatening employees at the shop they managed to make-off with cash and cigarettes.

Finally, on January 16, Old Heath Road’s Co-op store was also targeted for a second time, this time by two armed men who assaulted a staff member with a crowbar.

They ultimately left the site with more than £4,000 in cash and more than £1,000 worth of tobacco.

PC Alex Plakhtienko, of the Essex Police Business Crime Team, said: “These offences relate to a series of robberies during which violence has been used against staff members and a large quantity of cash and cigarettes were stolen.

“We are progressing a number of lines of enquiry and we have linked each of these incidents.

“We are now appealing to the public who may be able to identify the people pictured.

“I appreciate those who were seeking to identify have their faces covered but I would ask people to please look closely at the images to see if you might have any information which could help our investigation.”

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting the follow incident numbers which have been listed chronologically: 42/185874/21, 42/220670/21, 42/229698/21, 93 of November 17 and 42/13445/22.