Thieves snatch £30,000 necklace

THIEVES pulled off a smash-and-grab raid on a Lewes jewellers during a busy lunch hour and made off with a 30,000 diamond and white gold necklace.

The two men threw a distress flare into the office of W.E.Clark and Sons in Cliffe High Street, filling the shop with smoke, before smashing a plated interior window to the display cabinet and snatching the precious piece of jewellery.

They then made off over Cliffe Bridge at 1.40pm on Wednesday, turned into the NCP car park and roared off on a dark high-powered trials-type motorbike, possibly a Yamaha.

Police immediately launched a manhunt and began studying evidence from CCTV cameras both in the shop and the street.

Firemen put out a small fire on a carpet and wall caused by the flare and used a fan to rid the shop of smoke fumes.

Bystander Susy Hemens said: 'It all happened in a few seconds. Two men walked in the shop. I saw one of them throw the flare. The window smashed. My reaction was to get away.'

Daniel Blackford, one of four staff in Clark's at the time, said: 'One man threw the flare and the other smashed the window with a bar of some kind. I was very scared but they didn't speak or even look at me.'

Police Sergeant Charlie Connaughton said: 'Staff are obviously shaken but there are no injuries.

'It all happened in 15 to 20 seconds. No violence was offered or spoken to staff.

'It would appear to have been well planned and the shop could have been under their observation for some time.

'We are appealing for information from anyone who might have seen something, either in the Cliffe or in the car park.'

The first man was about 5ft 6in tall, about 40, with long greying hair, slightly balding. He wore a baseball cap and dark clothing.

The second man was 5ft 10in, about 20 and carrying a shoulder bag. He had a tanned complexion, a dark jumper and short, dark, messy hair.