THOUSANDS of pounds worth of garden machinery and branded clothing have been stolen in a ram raid at a rural supplies store in the Cotswolds.

Thieves 'hot-wired' a Land Rover in Baunton Lane, Cirencester, and drove it to the Cotswold Agricultural Centre in Driffield. The lock to an access gate at the Countrywide Store was cut open and the stolen vehicle was reversed into the metal shutters of the building, causing them to buckle open.

Thousands of pounds worth of goods were taken and the offenders left the scene, leaving the Land Rover running in situ.

The incident happened between 7pm on Monday, February 17 and 7.30am on Tuesday February 18.

Anyone with information about the thefts should call 101, quoting incident no 57 of 18/2/14.