Hoe restaurant burglars make off with around £8,000 - including £1,000 worth of staff tips

POLICE believe around £8,000 – including almost £1,000 in staff tips – was stolen during a burglary at a celebrity chef's Plymouth restaurant.

As reported in yesterday's Herald the burglars are believed to have broken into the Rhodes at the Dome on the Hoe sometime between midnight on Sunday and 7am on Monday and dug out a digital safe from a wall before making off.

A police spokesman said the restaurant was closed at midnight, but a cleaner who arrived at around 3am later noted a rear door was opened.

The spokesman said it was possible the burglars were in the property when the cleaner arrived but there was no hard evidence to clarify the suggestion.

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The spokesman said: "The Cathedral Products digital safe contained around £8,000 in cash of which around £1,000 were tips belonging to the staff.

"The amount was large because the money had been collected over the weekend and was set to be banked on the Monday.

"It is possible the burglars were aware of this and so chose the early hours of Monday to target the isolated property."

There was no sign of forced entry and it is understood the suspects left the building via a rear door and through a courtyard area.

The spokesman said: "We are keen to hear from anyone who may have been in the area of the restaurant between midnight and 7am on Monday and saw any suspicious activity along either Hoe Road or up on the Hoe itself."

If you can assist police or have knowledge of the whereabouts of the safe, contact them on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 quoting crime reference number EC/13/2608.