Raiders steal five cars

THIEVES broke into an Uckfield motor dealership early on Friday morning and stole five high performance cars worth more than 70,000.

The raid happened at the East Sussex Motor Centre in London Road at about 3.45am.

The gang smashed a window and then stole log books and keys.

The vehicles stolen were a blue Toyota Landcruiser, S509 BPG; a blue Range Rover, P409 KKJ; a blue BMW 323 Coupe, N89 AJB; a silver Mercedes E300D, R598 KGJ; and a purple Jeep Cherokee, S381 CGK.

The dealership is 300 yards from other property so the thieves were able to work without being disturbed. However, the intruder alarm was set off which alerted the police.

Inspector Shane Lambert said: 'The front gate of the centre was rammed and we are unsure whether this was on exit or entry. One possibility is the intruders set the alarm off and then rammed the gate to get out quickly, but it's unclear.'

One of the cars was spotted heading north by a police officer at Godstone but by the time he had turned around he had lost sight of the car.

Insp Lambert said: 'This was a bold and well planned break in, involving at least six people and if anyone saw anything suspicious please contact Uckfield police on 0845 60 70 999 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.'