Police probe £40k club heist

POLICE are investigating a heist at a top city centre nightspot which saw raiders make off with an estimated £40,000 haul of cash, televisions and alcohol.

The probe centres on the Hawke + Hunter venue on Picardy Place, which was targeted in what has been described as a "professional" job in the early hours of Sunday, January 16.

Thieves broke into the Georgian townhouse building through a rear entrance on a lane off Forth Street before ransacking the basement nightclub and emptying a safe.

It is understood around 20,000 in cash was stolen from the vault.

Stock totalling around 15,000 is also thought to have been seized as well as five large plasma televisions, usually mounted outdoors in the venue's Secret Garden but stored inside during the recent cold snap.

Venue owner Barrie Brown was sleeping upstairs in one of the three boutique hotel rooms attached to the five-storey complex when the raiders swooped, but was not disturbed by the break-in.

A spokeswoman for Hawke + Hunter said: "It's just after the Christmas season and every bar is nervous about taking a huge hit at this time of year.

"It was a very clean and professional-looking job. It looks like they were quick and discreet.

"With any large bar you are going to be a target at this time of year and I think a lot of bars are nervous about this sort of thing happening.

"Obviously we are devastated and it's the case that we cannot let this happen ever again. Naturally, we will be upping security."

She added: "The safe forms the biggest piece of the investigation and there should have been alarms which failed to go off, forming another aspect of the investigation.

"Damage was mostly restricted to the secure heavy door at the back of the building and some internal doors.

"One or two of the hotel bedrooms (on the upper floors of the building] were occupied by staff, including the hotel owner, but from a noise point of view you could go through the nightclub with a band of drummers and you wouldn't hear anything on the upper floor."

As part of their inquiries, police are sifting though on-street CCTV footage in a bid to trace the culprits.

A police spokesman said: "Lothian and Borders Police are investigating following a break-in and high-value theft from a city centre bar.

"The incident happened sometime between 4.20am and 6.30am on Sunday, January 16, at the premises in Picardy Place.

"Various electrical items, cash and alcohol were taken and police are now asking anyone with information that can assist their inquiries to come forward immediately.

"We are particularly keen to speak to anyone who may have been in or around the lane to the rear of the property and would urge them to make contact with officers as soon as possible."

The club opened in November 2008 and has quickly become one of the city's elite venues.