This is the sickening moment thieves smash through the window of a Livingston Chinese takeaway and steal its till - the third time the shop has been targeted in just two weeks.
The Dragon House in Kirk Lane, Livingston Village was robbed again last night after thieves broke in on November 6 and 12.
Each time the callous crooks strike around midnight and make off with a till, so far stealing £160 in total.
The owners say they fear for their safety as a nearby van was also broken into last night.
And they say they had just reopened again after being closed at the weekend following the theft on November 12 as their door had not been repaired, meaning cooks and delivery workers had all missed wages thanks to the thieves.
Anna Chong from the WL Chinese Community Hub has been helping to translate and speak to police on behalf of the takeaway’s Malaysian and Indonesian owners, Teofilo Da Costa and Celcino Savio.
She said: “The shop has CCTV everywhere and they think it’s the same people each time.
“The owners want to pass the message around in the hope someone was walking their dog at the time or recognise the people to contact police.
“The second time it was at the weekend, so they couldn’t find anybody to cover the window, so they couldn’t open the shop for the whole weekend while they tried to get everything replaced.
“They have a lot of local staff who are delivery drivers and the chefs can’t work either.”
Anna said the men now don’t feel safe in the area, saying there has been a marked increase in crime recently.
She continued: “At the same time as the shop was broken into there was also a van parked outside and it was broken into as well, the windows were smashed.”
Police Scotland has been contacted for comment.
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