Sledgehammer gang raid Portsmouth jewellers

Police are today guarding Ernest Jones in Cascades Shopping Centre, where sledgehammers can be seen in evidence in the shop.

The shop’s heavy metal shutter has been bent upwards, giving access to the jewellers.

Centre staff are busy cleaning up the remnants of a fire at the rear entrance near the car park.

Wallis clothes shop, which opens on to Commercial Road, has also been broken into overnight and is taped off

Crime scene investigators are photographing rucksacks and combing the shop for clues.

One worker said the alarm sounded at around 3am when the fire was set.

‘It does look like a professional job,’ the man in his 20s said.

‘There’s rumours that they put tracks down down on the high street to stop police cars.’

Detectives from Portsmouth’s burglary team are today investigating the incident.

No-one from Hampshire police was immediately available for comment.