AN OPTICIANS which had £15,000 worth of glasses stolen in a late-night burglary has expressed frustration at the police for failing to apprehend the suspect despite overwhelming evidence.

The burglar smashed his way into Templeman's Opticians, in Frobisher Way, Shoebury, with a crow bar last month, and stole hundreds of pairs of glasses worth an estimated £15,000.

Police were called and forensic investigators attended to collect evidence.

Harry Templeman, whose family run several opticians in the south Essex area, said: "We immediately had a very clear image of him on CCTV from Asda's cameras.

"He was just wearing plain clothes and didn't have his face covered - he was as casual as you like.

"When the forensic team came round, they got good fingerprints off the inside of the cabinets he had opened which matched ones on record so they had an ID of who had done it pretty soon after he had done it.

"We were told officers went round to question him and when he did not answer, for some reason, the police marked him as 'missing'. He has been spotted in the area by other people who have said he has been trying to flog the glasses.

"We have loads of evidence as to who has done it and they even went round to question someone but for some reason, they are not taking further action when this case is as good as solved? We just think it's unfair that no more has been done in finding him despite being linked to several other crimes in the area."

Essex Police say they are "confident" the case will reach "a successful conclusion" given the amount of evidence they have and have assured the victims that the case has not been closed.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: "Police were called to reports of a burglary at an opticians in Frobisher Way, Shoebury which took place at some point between 10.45pm on June 10 and 1.45am on June 11.

"A door was forced open and around pairs of glasses worth a five-figure sum were taken.

"Evidence has been identified and the investigation is progressing.

"If you have any information about the incident please call us on 101 quoting the crime reference number 42/81630/18 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."