'Laurel and Hardy' thieves steal cheap booze in bar burglary - WATCH

Matt Lemm opened up Bar10 at the iconic former Wharf building at Walsall Waterfront in February having spent around £50,000 sprucing it up.

But around 4am on Sunday morning, two burglars smashed through the front door and fled with several bottles of alcohol in plastic bags worth no more than £80.

Mr Lemm said he would have given them away for free had he known they were so desperate. But he added what had incensed him was £500 bill to replace the front door.

Mr Lemm has put up a reward for information on the culprits, which leads to their conviction. CCTV footage, which has been viewed more than 1,600 times on his Facebook page, captures two hooded men stuffing bottles from behind the bar into carrier bags. Mr Lemm said: “I watched the CCTV back and it really was amateur night.

“They smashed the front window and was inside for about two and a half minutes. All I can say is it was like Laurel and Hardy trying to rob the place, going backwards and forwards.

“They have taken bottles of Prosecco you can get for £6 in Asda. The maximum they took is about £80’s worth. Some of it was already open so they won’t be able to sell that. They probably made, at most, £20 each but it has cost me £500 to get the door replaced, which is what has annoyed me more than anything.

“The person I am, if they were that desperate and had come in asking me for £20 worth of alcohol I would probably have given it to them.” The bar manager added that, unfortunately, the break-in had not come as a surprise.

“We took it over, did it all out and were expecting something like this, although not this early. You try to do something good for the town. It is not particularly damaging to the business it’s just a shame you get idiots doing things like this.”