THIEVES made off with 20,000 packs of back bacon and a Scania van in a £60,000 raid on an Evesham firm.

The owners of Cotswold Provisions, a company that sources and distributes foods from its base in Briar Close industrial estate came in to work at 6am on Tuesday to find one of their vehicles - worth around £30,000 missing.

"They broke through our galvanised steel security fence so they knew what they were doing," said director Neil Cockerton.

"They had sawn the bolts off and they also broke a padlock on the main gate to get the vehicle out. It had been cut through like paper cut by scissors, they were prepared for the job."

The raiders smashed a window on a 26-ton, six-wheeler lorry before turning to an older red Mercedes which had no lock on its side door overnight on Monday.

A 'substantial number' of boxes of bacon from that refrigerated vehicle to the nearby Scania vehicle which already contained the remainder of the 20,000 or so packs of bacon which were taken, piled on 16 pallets.

The refrigerated Scania van, registration X866 ABA was then driven away.

Although Mr Cockerton was unable to put a figure on the stolen bacon but it has a retail value of around £36,000 and will be past its use-by date in six weeks.

Each pack, averaging 8-twelve rashers, is stamped with the company's licence number UKPR009PEEC and postcode WR11 4JT.

The company had a similar raid around 12 years ago when thieves took bacon and a vehicle, which was later found empty and abandoned in Birmingham.

Mr Cockerton said the raid had cost the business a significant amount of trade.

"We have a smashed window in one vehicle and have lost another so we have been at half capacity for a day," he added.

South Worcestershire police have warned food outlets to be aware of cut-price offers.

Anyone with information can call police on 08457 444888 or can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.