A BURGLAR stole £2,500 worth of watches from a Leigh shop.

The thief was caught on CCTV breaking into Uptomen, a male accessory store in Rectory Grove, at 2.30am on Christmas Eve before smashing two glassdoor cabinets and making off with 19 Storm and Torgoen Swiss watches.

The crook was in and out of the shop in the space of a minute after smashing through the front door, which was not shuttered.

Owner Mike Wells, 43, said although the burglar may have been endangering his life, the stormy weather could well have acted as the perfect cover for his crime.

He said: “It was probably quite handy for a cover – there was lots of noise that night so he may have thought he might as well do it then.

“It’s the worst possible time to have had this happen though.

It’s pretty heart-breaking when you put all that effort in to try to make a success out of something and someone comes and does something like this.

“It’s hard enough at the moment to run a small business – I haven’t had a day off since November 23 – but for something like this to happen on Christmas Eve is so sad.”

Mike, who lives close to the shop, said he was woken as the shop’s alarm went off via an alert call on his mobile phone and rushed down to the store.

But, by the time he arrived, the thief had fled.

An Essex Police spokesman said: “Police are investigating a burglary in Leigh in which a thief smashed though the window of the front door of Uptomen on Rectory Grove shortly after 2.30am on December 24 and stole a number of watches estimated to be worth £2,500.

“The burglar, who is white, has been captured on camera and walked off towards Belton Way.”