THIEVES stole 20 blue plastic shopping baskets to take away a haul of stock worth £23,000, including Yankee Candles from a Cwmbran garden centre.

Sunnydale Garden Centre in Croesyceiliog was targeted by “professional” burglars on Tuesday, March 31, between 12.10am and 4.20am.

Thousands of candles, of various sizes and ranging between £5 and £20, were stolen alongside other products such as candle lamp shades and air fresheners.

Gwent Police said 20 blue plastic shopping baskets were also used to take away a haul of stock worth £23,000 from the centre, which employs around 25 people.

Co-owner Philip Taylor said the alarm system, which has since been overhauled, was not triggered as the intruders broke through a metal wall to get access and did not roam around in the shop.

The 49-year-old said: “You just feel sick. We’re a small family-run business and this past year we’ve invested very heavily into the garden centre and increased our Yankee Candles intake by about five times.

“In a normal year it would be disastrous but we are not particularly cash rich because of the investments this year and it’s affected us even more. It’s had a huge impact unfortunately.

“There’s never a good time to have a burglary but this has put us under particular stress.

“We’ve been here for 20 years and never had nothing like this. It’s like someone coming into your home and stealing your possessions.”

Mr Taylor said they will not be able to replace the products until next week due to the sheer volume, adding the incident has had a huge impact on trade.

“Yankee Candles are our most successful gift line – it probably amounts to half the gift sales we make,” he added. “It’s a huge, huge loss.

“The guys who did it seem very professional – they wore gloves, wore non-distinctive clothes and kept their vehicles away from the CCTV.”

If anyone has information relating to this incident, or are offered any discounted Yankee Candles in the area, they are asked to call Gwent Police on 101 quoting log number 120 31/3/15.