An estimated £7,000 worth of damage was caused to a vending machine in The Egg Box Shop near Cromarty in the Black isle, while two laptops and a till containing about £120 were stolen from the Cromarty Brewing Company shop.

Police have appealed to the public to help identify the suspect, described as a white male of an average build and around 6ft tall, following the break-ins in the early hours of Thursday morning.

CCTV from the Egg Box Shop appears to show a man cutting a light sensor before trying to break open the door of the stainless steel vending machine, possibly using a crowbar, damaging the central control sensor inside it.

The suspect was captured on CCTV in the Egg Box Shop/ Damage to the door in the Cromarty Brewing Co shop. Pic: CCTV

Business owner, John Gordon, whose family have been farming in the area since 1811, said he made the discovery when he went to the shop on Thursday morning to get some eggs for breakfast.

He said: "They did not manage to get into the vending machine but they damaged the door, causing serious amounts of damage - about £7,000 worth. They would not have got any money as I empty it every night.

"They must have been at it for more than 30 minutes, looking at the CCTV.

"I feel sorry for the guy too as it's pretty desperate if you're having to break into a small brewery shop and an egg vending machine."

The vending machine can be seen behind the suspect. Pic: CCTV

During the Covid-19 crisis, the Egg Box Shop helped out those in need by giving away dozens of eggs.

The shop, which has been running since 2006, even supplied supermarkets when there were egg shortages during lockdown.

John says he has been "overwhelmed" by the support from local people and businesses following the break-in and that their Facebook post has reached over 110,000 people.

‘Horrible feeling’

John Gordon outside the Egg Box Shop with his daughters.

Cromarty Brewing Company managing director, Chappy Middleton, said that as well as laptops and a till, the thief stole t-shirts from the shop and caused damage to one of their doors.

He said: "It's a horrible feeling. You just worry what the future holds. I have been in Cromarty all my life and we never have any crime in this area."

Police said, at the time of the incidents, the suspect was wearing a white baseball cap, a green and navy snood, navy coloured fleece jacket, dark worker's combat style trousers with a green pocket cover and red and black gloves.

He also had a dark coloured watch on his left wrist.

Acting Sergeant Alasdair Lee, of Dingwall Community Policing, said: “Although this happened through the night, we would ask if anyone noticed anyone acting suspicious in the area to contact officers.“We believe that both incidents are linked and we would encourage members of the local community to contact police if they have any information that could assist with our investigation.“Police can be contacted on 101 quoting incident number 0458 of Thursday, 3 September, 2020.”

Break-ins to two Highland businesses a mile apart cause £7k of damage to Egg Box Shop vending machine as laptops and till stolen from Cromarty Brewing Co shop