METAL thieves have targeted two Pershore businesses causing hundreds of pounds of damage as they stripped lead from rooftops.

Bennetts newsagents and Ogle's pharmacy were the latest victims of a recent spate of crimes where metal such as lead and copper is being stolen for its scrap value.

Both incidents took place overnight between Saturday (21) and Sunday with Bennett's hit the hardest as rainwater seeped into the stockroom and destroyed a large amount of stock.

Mary Bennett of Bennett's newsagents said: "They have ripped the lead off the entire length of the roof of the building and as it was raining the water came straight in and ruined all of the stock in the back.

"We are only a small shop so there is not a massive amount but we had to throw the majority of items such as sweets and chocolate bars away. We are going to have to replace all the lead and at the moment it has been secured to stop the rain getting in."

Ogle's pharmacy is only metres away from Bennett's and Gerry Ogle found the damage after turning up for work on Monday (23) morning.

He said: "They have taken a significant amount. I turned up for work on Monday morning and found that bits were missing from the roof.

"I think they had a go at it on Friday first of all as I saw some bits hanging off but they probably got disturbed and came back to do the job properly on Saturday night. It is just the inconvenience of it all which is most annoying,"

Police are investigating the incident as part of Operation Livewire which was launched in July 2007 in a bid to combat the crime as the value of scrap metal rockets.

Anyone with information should contact police on 08457 444 888 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.