Don’t leave cash on premises

Don’t leave cash on premises

Michael Duffy

GARDAÍ in Westport have warned businesses in the town not to leave any cash, no matter how small the amount, on their premises overnight, following a spate of break-ins recently.
The latest in a long list of break-ins over the last two months occurred in The Fairgreen/Altamount Street area of the town last week, with a total of five small businesses targeted.
Small amounts of cash were taken from Westport Family Resource Centre, Bourke Waste, Geraghty Finance and the Westport Chamber of Commerce offices between 6pm on Thursday evening and 6am on Friday morning. A solicitors office was also entered but no money was taken.
Gardaí told The Mayo News they are following ‘a certain line of enquiry’ and that they believe the raiders were only looking for small amounts of cash and appeared to be on foot.
“There was no attempt to remove equipment or valuables from the premises that were broken into last week. It does appear that the people involved were after cash and were operating on foot. Access was gained through a small window. One of the premises involved was due to have an alarm installed the day after the incident took place so it was unfortunate that the break-ins were on Thursday night,” said a Garda spokesperson, who encouraged small businesses to lock away petty cash in safes, or to take it from the premises altogether.
“The best way to put off petty thieves is to make sure there is nothing there for them to take. Our advice would be to lock away all cash and valuables every evening after the close of business. We are following a certain line of enquiry but as of yet no arrests have been made in relation to the break-ins last Thursday,” added the spokesperson.