Theft spree hits London

London-based practitioners are being warned to be vigilant in the wake of a series of recent practice break-ins resulting in hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage.

The Kings Cross Eye Clinic (KCEC), Roger Pope Opticians in Marylebone, Eye Cube in West Hampstead and 2020 Optical Store on Tottenham Court Road and several London-based David Clulow practices have fallen victim to burglaries in recent weeks. The raiders typically attack in the early hours, wear hooded tops to disguise their identities from security cameras and travel on scooters and mopeds to escape ahead of the police.

Jonathan Cohen, owner of the KCEC said: 'A local gang appears to be raiding opticians in the area and we have been broken into for the second time meaning we now have to close for a week.' As well as stealing a large number of high-value designer frames, Cohen said the thieves had scratched floors, smashed windows and ripped away display units meaning that the store needed to be repaired and redecorated. 'We have every conceivable security gadget in our practice but we could look into getting tougher shutters and smoke cannisters.'